The lockdown regime has changed the behavioural pattern of online users. Overall online purchases continue to see a dip of 16% with many services such as travel coming to a standstill. Consumers leaned into online bill payments with over 70% transactions in that category. During lockdown, while online bill payments increased, food and beverage delivery apps and financial services took the biggest hit. Categories such as gaming and entertainment stayed steady for the most part.
In a nutshell, online shopping witnessed consistency primarily driven by grocery and daily essentials, according to insights into consumer shopping behaviour prepared by Wibmo Inc, the largest processor of e-commerce authentication.
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Though online shopping fell by a whopping 30% on March 22, on the day of the Janata Curfew, Indian consumers returned online the following weeks, however gaining only 50% of that, as they were cooling their heels owing to the lockdown.
According to Wibmo, RuPay spending slowly climbed back to about 98% of normal volumes but continued to fluctuate between 87% to 98%, reflecting both caution and apprehension during uncertain times. On the other hand, Visa and Mastercard purchases were back up to only 86% of their normal volumes and swung between 70-86%, probably due to reduction in discretionary spend.
As the week progressed, RuPay saw a further rise of 10%, as opposed to Visa and Mastercard purchases. During this same time, average ticket size dropped by 25% as consumers focused on necessities.
“We process over 2.2 billion transactions annually giving us unique insight into consumer behaviour and spend patterns. The shift in online purchases was inevitable as our consumers stay at home during this tough period,” said company CEO Govind Setlur. “This phase in our history will bring a significant shift toward online shopping with new products and services and as consumers start preferring the convenience. We at Wibmo continue our operations as usual, since now, more than ever, our services are critical to meeting our consumers’ daily needs,” he said.
Wibmo Inc, a Cupertino, California-based company, is an industry leader in payments security and mobile payments in emerging markets. The company is the largest provider in India, one of the world’s leading digital payments markets.
[source: financialexpress]