37% of Indian consumers look for ‘country of origin’ while shopping online, says survey

Indian consumers prioritize information related to reviews, ratings and price more than the country of origin while purchasing products online according to a recent survey by LocalCircles.

According to the survey, 37 per cent of Indian consumers give preference to the ‘country of origin’ of a product while making an online purchase.

“While only 37 per cent of consumers said they look for country of origin, 83 per cent said they look for ratings and reviews information, something that most e-commerce platforms are trying to strengthen. MRP and discount information are sought by 82 per cent consumers, while 62 per cent seek best-before-date on human consumption products. Price and delivery date was of prime importance to all e-commerce customers," read the report.

“This means that only 37 per cent of the consumers that shop online look for Country of Origin information before buying the product, and price, delivery date, ratings & reviews are the more important to consumers for their purchases through ecommerce,” it added.

The survey comes on the heels of the recent order by the Central government urging e-commerce platforms to mention the country of origin on its products amid the rising border tensions between India and China.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry last week had mandated sellers on its Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal to provide the name of the country of origin while registering any new product on the online procurement portal.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had held a meeting with e-commerce majors to discuss mandating the same on platforms such as Flipkart and Amazon, as per previous reports.

“The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recently called e-commerce companies like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and Paytm Mall, etc. to discuss displaying the ‘country of origin’ of the products on their platforms. However, the term “country of origin” is open to interpretations as a product could have the majority of its components originating in one country while the final assembly could have happened in a different country and most sellers do not have an easy way of knowing that,” read the LocalCircles report.

“Therefore, instead of the seller filling up the field manually, it may be easier to have the sellers upload the image of the principal display panel along with products images. This will also ensure parity between physical retail and ecommerce as the consumer will have access to product packaging via both the channels. A notification from the Legal Metrology Division defining the Country of Origin for both retail and ecommerce channels would also help in eliminating any ambiguity that might otherwise exist on the issues,” it added.

The survey was based on over 16,300 responses from respondents across 239 districts of India.

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