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Apparels and accessories will emerge as the biggest category in online shopping search this year, taking over from consumer electronics last year, in terms of absolute query volumes.
According to a Google India study, search for consumer electronics was at 34 per cent, followed by apparels and accessories at 30 per cent in 2012.
Online search
Other categories that Indians searched for online were books (15 per cent), beauty and personal care (10 per cent), home and furnishing (6 per cent), baby products (2 per cent) and healthcare (3 per cent).
“In 2013, we see apparels and accessories’ queries going up to 35-36 per cent and consumer electronics down from 34 per cent to around 30 per cent because of more options available in apparels and accessories,” Nitin Bawankule, Industry Director-Ecommerce, Classifieds and Media, Google India, told reporters here.
Apparels and accessories was already among the top categories ever purchased online with 84 per cent in 2012, followed by electronics (71 per cent), beauty and personal care (64 per cent), books (62 per cent) and household products (61 per cent), the report said.
Baby products, healthcare, and home and furnishing that saw a 2x growth in 2012 will also keep the trend in 2013 because of the demand growing.
Online shopping
The company said online shopping in India saw 128 per cent growth in interest from consumers between 2011 and 2012 compared to only 40 per cent growth in 2010 to 2011, making 2012 the tipping point for online shopping in India.
“One of the major reasons of growth in online shopping was because of its growth from the small towns as many brands and physical stores such as future bazaar and Croma are not present in those areas,” Rajan Anandan, Vice-President and Managing Director, Google India, said.
Mobile Internet users
As mobile Internet user base grows in India, mobile phones are also becoming a contributor in the surge for online shopping with Google witnessing 2x growth in the number of queries in 2011 to 2012, he said.
“With approximately 8 million Indians shopping online in 2012, online shopping industry in India is growing rapidly and will continue to see exponential growth,” he added.
The report was compiled by combining data from Google Trends and online research conducted by TNS Australia with a sample size of 800 respondents on behalf of Google India in November 2012.
>ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in
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