India’s e-commerce boom: Gen Z, small cities, and self-care trends on the rise, says Meesho | Business Insider India

According to Meesho’s recent ‘Smart shopper report’, Gen Z is rapidly embracing e-commerce, with one in every three Meesho users being less than 25 years old. This makes them the fastest-growing demographic on the platform. The report also highlights that mass consumers, who typically make low-price purchases, account for around 80% of the total online shopping population in India. Reports suggest that by 2030, mass consumers, who are constantly seeking value for price, will dominate the retail market, constituting 65% of total consumers.

At present, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are leading the way, when it comes to user growth in e-commerce, underscoring the significant untapped potential these states hold.

The report also delves deeper into the evolving habits and preferences of mass consumers. Meesho has observed that users from Tier IV and smaller cities are the most frequent repeat shoppers under categories like women’s fashion, footwear, and baby care.

Additionally, over 80% of Indian online shoppers now hail from tier-2 cities, and beyond, which include places like Ambur, Rourkela, Sangli, and Zirakpur.

Influencer-driven e-commerce boom in North-East

Furthermore, the report reveals that customers in northeastern states of India such as Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim are increasingly basing their e-commerce purchases choices on content generated by influencers, making up for an impressive 40% of all orders from these states.

Meesho has also witnessed greater digital inclusion, with a growing number of content creators emerging from some of the most remote regions of India, like Bazpur (Uttarakhand), Kotputli (Rajasthan), and Pakyong (Sikkim). With the growing popularity of content creators, products like selfie sticks, ring lights, microphones, and tripods have also quickly risen to top the electronics category.

Another notable feature Meesho identified was a significant rise in the adoption of vernacular languages and voice search, with rates increasing by 162% and 40%, respectively. This surge reflects mass consumers’ strong preference for regional languages and user-friendly features.

Tier 2 and other, smaller cities have significantly outpaced Tier 1 cities when it comes to ordering electronic accessories, making double the amount of purchases made by their bigger, urban counterparts.

Meesho has also seen substantial demand for products like bluetooth headphones and earphones, power banks, smart speakers, screen magnifiers, and keyboards from diverse Indian cities such as Alwar (Rajasthan), Bettiah (Bihar), Pursurah (West Bengal), Rajahmundry (Andhra Pradesh), Sindkheda (Maharashtra), and Sirsa (Haryana).

Among the fastest-growing categories on Meesho are books, which grew by 148% YoY (year-on-year basis) growth, office supplies and stationery (137% YoY growth), home improvement (112% YoY growth), furnishings (92% YoY growth), and pet supplies (68% YoY growth). There has also been a surge in demand for personal care and grooming essentials.

A shift towards quick draping

In just six months, over 10,00,000 saree shapers and more than 60,000 ready-to-wear sarees were sold, indicating that consumers far prefer a quicker, easier approach to traditional draping. There was a clear penchant for traditional and modern alike, since Banarasi was the most sought after fabric, followed by chiffon and organza.

Self-care on the rise

With increasingly hectic schedules, mass consumers are also prioritising self-care. As a result, there has been a rise in at-home salon treatments, with Meesho reporting sales of 6,00,000 face packs, over 4,00,000 facial kits, 3,00,000 wax strips, 4,00,000 press-on nails, and 4,00,000 nail paints this year.

Not just this, yoga also made it to list, when it came to self-care. Meesho reported selling about 20 lakh yoga mats in just 6 months. And not just that, skipping and hula hooping also seems to be coming back in vogue, with consumers buying around 2 lakh skipping ropes and 75,000 hula hoops this year alone.

SEE ALSO:
5 lessons startup founders can learn from tech mogul Elon Musk

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}