Comments
Online searches in the service category have witnessed a spike as the country reopens amid Covid-19, according to a study by India-based online service platform Sulekha.com.
Online searches for at-home services such as home appliance repair and domestic help services have been the most popular during the first phase of reopening, or Unlock 1.0.
During Unlock 1.0, home appliance repair services were searched 11,042 times on the platform, while domestic help came up for 10,753 searches. The third-most popular service category was job training with 10,387 searches.
“In some cities, domestic help are being allowed inside residential premises, which might have led to an increase in searches. Since many companies have laid off employees, this may have led to the surge in job training searches,” the report said.
Searches for services related to cleaning and grooming have also witnessed a spike.
“With Unlock 1.0, there has also been an increase in online searches for cleaning services and diagnostic centres. Due to Covid-19, people want to sanitise their environment, which might have led to an increase in cleaning services. Some categories that have also seen an increase in online searches include beauty parlour services, spa centres and pet care services,” the report said.
Online searches for service categories such as paying guests, massage centres and packers and movers also witnessed an overall increase of 50 per cent, compared to May.
Learning from home
Online searches for service categories such as school tuitions, competitive exam coaching and distance education have also increased as students are compelled to learn from home.
“Closure of educational institutions across India may have led to the increase in these categories,” the report said.
Metros in the lead
The searches for such services are witnessing a boom, largely in metro cities. According to the study, the top five cities that are leading in online searches across service categories are Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad followed by Mumbai and Chennai.
Delhi had the maximum demand for online searches of home appliance repair and job training, while Bangalore led the demand for domestic help services.
Satya Prabhakar, Founder & CEO, Sulekha, said, “Unlock 1.0 has influenced some interesting trends in demand for services. Since Unlock 1.0 has been announced, we have seen an increase in certain service categories such as home appliance repair & domestic help. This is thanks to the ease in restrictions by the government. Also due to the current scenario regarding the re-opening of educational institutions, we have witnessed an increase in online searches for service categories such as school tuitions and distance education.”
This study is based on visits and searches by approximately 1,25,650 users across Indian cities on the platform in June.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.