MUMBAI: Gadgets are the most popular online purchases over mobile phones as per the study conducted by eCommerce marketplace, eBay India.
The report says that 68 per cent of mobile internet users have bought gadgets on their smart phone followed by 40 per cent who have bought clothes and footwear and 34 per cent who have bought books.
The findings are based on the eBay India Mobile Commerce Survey conducted with over 4500 eBay India users in May 2012.
eBay India country manager Muralikrishnan B said, "Mobile Commerce is starting to gain traction in India with the burgeoning smart phone penetration and a large number of Indians now use their smart phone to shop as well as compare prices. eBay India is a believer in Mobile Commerce and we have launched a suite of apps to cater to the Mobile Shopper and aid his online shopping behaviour."
eBay India Mobile Commerce Survey also reveals that shopping is the third most popular category of search after emails and social networking and 70 per cent of smart phone users access online shopping websites. Over 87 per cent of Indian smart phone users compare product prices online. Interestingly, this is more popular than travel tickets, movie timings and contact details.
Over 94 per cent of Indian smart phone users access the internet on their mobile. The results indicated that a large majority of Indian smart phone users are accessing the mobile internet and as many as 64 per cent of them have upgraded to 3G services. As many as 80 per cent of the respondents claimed to be always on the internet.
However, the home is the favourite access point for the mobile internet. Over 84 per cent of the survey respondents expressed that they accessed the mobile internet at home followed by 66 per cent who accessed it at work and 55 per cent who accessed it while waiting for their friends. The malls, restaurants, theatres, airports and the commute were the other times of access.
Meanwhile, 57 per cent of smart shoppers check prices online before they shop in a mall or a store. Over 30 per cent of users have stated that they always find better deals online and 49 per cent have stated that they ‘mostly‘ find better deals online.
Mobile Commerce Users are savvy shoppers and use their smart phones to check product prices (84 per cent). Other popular activities are to locate a store (65 per cent), research product features (57 per cent), find deals (55 per cent), and check product availability (48 per cent). 68 per cent of users have made an online purchase using their smart phone and digital commerce is gaining traction with Indian smart phone users.
Samsung and Nokia (40 per cent each) are the smart phones of choice for the Mobile Indian. The iPhone (17 per cent) is the third most popular smart phone brand.
