86% of Indians plan to do their seasonal holiday shopping online: Survey

Application owners must be ready as consumers ramp up online spending this holiday season

The big seasonal shopping moments such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday are around the corner, and consumers across the world are ready to take full advantage of them. In fact, this year, shoppers will rely on applications and digital services to get what they need, more than ever before.

Cisco AppDynamics recently conducted a survey of 12,000 consumers across 12 countries including India, exploring consumer intentions, behaviours, and preferences when it comes to online shopping during the holiday season.

On average, consumers expect that 59% of their spending on Black Friday / Cyber Monday this year will be online (through applications and digital services) – compared to an estimated 53% last year, globally.

For online retailers, this represents a huge opportunity to attract new customers and drive revenues. But the pressure on brands to deliver seamless digital experiences is also higher than ever before.

According to the Cisco AppDynamics Seasonal Shopping Pulse Survey 2023, below are the key findings from India respondents.

• 79% of the respondents expect to do more of their holiday shopping online (through applications and digital services) this Black Friday and Cyber Monday compared to last year.
• Thinking about their spending on Black Friday and Cyber Monday last year, 63% of the respondent’s total spend was online, using applications and digital services, rather than in-store.
• When asked about their holiday season shopping this year, 72% of the respondents expect their total spend to be online (using applications and digital services) rather than in-store.
• When asked why they are planning to increase the online proportion of their holiday shopping spend during Black Friday / Cyber Monday this year, the following were the responses

o   60% said that they get more choices online than in stores

o   42% said they want to avoid last-minute panic shopping in the shops

o   33% said they have less time for big holiday / Christmas shopping trips this year

o   35% like to be able to shop outside of normal retail hours or at convenient times on my phone

o   38% said they can do their holiday shopping during working hours

o   43% agreed they enjoy using innovative applications and digital services

o   29% said they prefer the digital shopping experience

• Below is the percentage of respondents agreed to the following statements

o   80% agree that if the applications and digital services they will be using to do their holiday shopping fail to perform, it will leave them feeling anxious and angry

o   72% agree that if the applications and digital services they will be using to do their holiday shopping fail to perform, they will be more inclined to go back to shopping in-store

o   86% agree they want to do more of their holiday shopping online this time

o   62% agree that it doesn’t matter how good the deals are that the retailers are offering, there would be no excuse for poor online shopping experiences

o   65% agree that the retail brands will just have one shot to impress them this holiday season