What Women really Want
India's ecommerce industry is frenetically trying to right a
gender
imbalance as the ladies stand up to be counted
When
Suchi Mukherjee decided to start a woman-centric online fashion
discovery
business in 2012, several in vestors she approached laughed her
out of
the room.
With a
background at internet ventures such as Skype and then Gumtree,
an
eBay company, she certainly knew the market well. Yet, potential
backers couldn't fathom why someone with
Mukherjee's pedigree would
chase women consumers, who at the time con
stituted under a fifth of
India's online population and an even
smaller sliver of actual consumers.
“When
Limeroad was founded in 2013, everyone laughed at us... the entire
ecommerce
industry was male-dominated,“ recounts Mukherjee. Rather
than
targeting over 80% of India's internet population, Limeroad was
attempting
to devise a social discovery platform for the minority, and
that
had observers amused and appalled. Just two years on, the story
couldn't
be more different. From a time when women consumers were
a
distinct afterthought for most ecommerce ven tures, today they are
scrambling
to meet their every whim. In the past 24 to 36 months, there
has
been an explosive growth in women coming online and in mobile
penetration.
Consequently, a raft of new ventures are focused on this
opportunity
and several older ones tweaking their business model to
chase after it. Today there are 28 million
active internet users in India
in the 18-44 age group in SEC A and B cities
alone. Add another
28-30
million from SEC B and C towns, and there's a fast growing market
for the likes of Limeroad to target. “In
January 2013, Limeroad was an
outlier,
but today we're at the heart of what is India's most attractive and
fastest-growing
online opportunity,“ adds Mukherjee.
Mukherjee
and Limeroad are hardly alone in going after this booming
opportunity in India's ecommerce market.
Across this industry, companies
of all shapes and sizes are in hot pursuit
of this prize, ranging from focused
startups
to large horizontal ecommerce giants such as Flipkart, Snapdeal
and
Amazon. While most of them today get around a third of their business
from
women, executives believe that this number can easily be more
than
50%.
“Most
women's categories are predominately unorganised and difficult
to
access,“ says Rishi Vasudev, vice-president, fashion, with Flipkart.
“We give them a platform to access products
made anywhere from
Kanyakumari
to Kolkata.“ While typical categories such as apparel,
accessories
and personal care see the most purchases on Flipkart,
other
segments such as furniture and home appliances too (typically
a male
purchase) are seeing strong traction with women buyers.
Ecommerce
companies are trying to reel in more customers such as
Naina
Shetty. The 33-year-old public relations executive in Mumbai
(she
doesn't represent any of the companies featured in this article)
has
gone from a stage of paranoia over online purchases (primarily
to
deal with security of personal information) to being a staunch votary.
From
slowly finding her feet online, Shetty has become an avid online
shopper, first for groceries that ate up
hours of her precious weekend,
then
for gifts for friends and family, accessories and apparel.
“Buying
everything online has helped balance out my otherwise
chaotic
weekend,“ she says. “The saving in terms of fuel and time,
combined
with practically year-long sales and promotions, make
ecommerce
a compelling proposition.“
Women-centric Brands
For
Richa Kar, the founder and chief executive of Zivame, an online
lingerie retailer, the internet provided an
opportunity to give women
consumers
a far better shopping option than an existing inefficient
and
uncomfortable offline experience. “We not only offer a broader
range
and more styles, we also help with fitting,“ she says.
“We
have leveraged technology to solve this problem and built a
womencentric
brand from the ground up.“ She claims that 18% of
Zivame buyers made their first online
purchase on the lingerie portal
and
the company is looking to move more such potential customers online.
“We
have barely scratched the surface despite our apparent growth...
with almost no marketing we are seeing
strong brand recognition in
tier
II and III towns... we want women to buy their entire lingerie drawer
from
us“ she adds.
Deepthi
Gohain, an HR manager with a Bengaluru-headquartered IT major,
says
she shops online because of the convenience of not having to step out,
and of
being able to compare prices and check reviews online. “If I had to
buy a dress from a shop I'd have to visit
four or five of them but, online,
I can
easily check 20-30 options. And there are discounts almost throughout
the
year. For shopaholics like me, the ease of accessibility is a big reason
I shop
online.“ It's also easier to impulse-shop online, she says.
Most
websites are much better than they used to be earlier. And an easy
returns
policy is what can build consumer confidence. Fashion ecommerce
app
Myntra, for instance, is willing to pick up returns the next day, no
questions
asked. Most etailers, though, have still to get their act together
on the
returns front.
Rahul
Taneja, vice-president, category management at Snapdeal, believes
online
companies need to mimic the setup of offline retailers if they are to
successfully
reel in wom en consumers. “Both online and offline, we think
that
women shoppers compare a lot, are very social with their purchases
(sending
pictures of interesting options to friends and family by WhatsApp,
for
example) and take longer than men to decide on purchases,“ he contends.
The
online world seems to be coming to grips with these nuances -for example
Snapdeal's Shopo unit allows buyers and
sellers to interact directly on its
platform,
to detail and debate product specifications.“We will be introducing
more
features targeted at women consumers... around the areas of social
shopping,
bargains and comparisons,“ he adds.
For
Prateeksha Sharma, a regulatory affairs manager with a German
multinational,
buying online began because she didn't want to endure
the chaos
of Delhi's Nehru Place, a hub for IT peripherals she used to
patronise
for products such as USB thumb drives.
What
began with cheaper online purchases evolved to shopping for these
drives,
and then expanded into apparel and accessories, food, groceries
and
even electronics. “Most of these ecommerce sites (and apps) have a
huge
range and a very convenient returns policy, making it really tempting
to log
on,“ she says. “Now, there are also sites to compare prices across
the
board, making ecommerce an even more attractive proposition.“
Anisha
Srinivasan moved to Mumbai a few months ago from Bengaluru
and
discovered that finding stores in small lanes in a strange city could
be a
challenge. And, wading into Mumbai's monsoon for something as
small
as a soap dish, seemed a foolhardy idea. Instead, the entrepreneur
decided to log and clear out her home
shopping list--ranging from the
soap
dish to shoe organisers. “Going online helped me quickly buy
products
that would have otherwise required a prolonged offline struggle,“
she says. Having used Amazon Prime when she
lived in the US earlier,
she's
a frequent online window shopper here in India, but says she's yet to
find
anything of interest here.
Small-town
Action
A few
months ago, a female senior citizen in Pune logged onto Quikr to
clear
out a bunch of potted plants to make space for her grandchildren in
her home. That was her first visit and since
then she's logged on a few
more
times to clear out unwanted goods from her house. Pranay Chulet,
founder
and chief executive of Quikr, says women shoppers have quickly
be come the centre of the online used
products platform's strategy.
“Younger
women use Quikr for a makeover, while older ones use it to
clear
out their stuff,“ he says. “Women control a large share of spending
across
categories and several of our initiatives ranging from QuikrNxt
(a
chat platform to keep contact data confidential) to our latest campaign
for
our soon-to-be-launched real estate foray are all women-centric.“
As the
benefits of the internet (especially on the mobile) have percolated,
Quikr
is seeing women from smaller towns and poorer backgrounds use
its
platform for an assortment of purposes. For example, one woman used
it to sell her prize milch cow, Radha,
fielding numerous enquiries on her
phone, as she tended to the bovine.
While
she hasn't yet bought a cow online, Kriteeka Saxena has bought a
lot
else -including groceries, home supplies, apparel, food, white goods
and
electrical and electronic products. “The only time to go to a mall is
in a
dire emergency,“ declares the digital marketing associate. “Once
you
know your size and fit, products such as apparel and accessories
are a
breeze... I even bought decorative lights from a store in Delhi
sitting
in Bengaluru, so there's no reason not to be online.“
With
many sites also proffering a no-questions-asked-refund policy,
her
online shopping is only likely to increase. “Many brands seem to
stock
a wider range these days online... this, combined with the promise
of
rapid deliv ery, makes these options more compel ling,“ she adds.
Vineetha
Chandy, director of SpecsCraft, a soon-to-be launched online
eye-wear
re tailer, buys clothes, shoes, diapers and other baby products
and
electronics online. “I shop for clothes online because of the deals,“
she
says. “It's also easier to find more sizes on ecommerce sites.
Otherwise,
I'd prefer to buy clothes after browsing in a mall and trying
them
on ... Impulse shopping is definitely easier because you keep
browsing
sites and might up end up buying something you like.“
She
also questions the app-only stance of Myntra and some other ventures.
“Myntra
being app-only is in convenient -if the same product is available
for
the same price on (a tradi tional website of ) Jabong, I'll buy it from
there
because you can see it on a bigger screen,“ she adds.
Company
executives admit women consumers are initially hard to please,
but maybe a strong long-term bet. For
example, Flipkart's Vasudev says
that
men typically look at no more than five options during a browsing
sessions,
according to the company's estimate, while women look at
least
10 to 12 variants in the same time.
Even
if women do make a purchase, return rates are higher (as much
as
30-40% more for women, as per industry estimates), which again
means
women try out far more options than men. Technology is
expected
to play a key role in bringing more women to these sites and
apps.
Rather than an assorted jumble of products, ventures such as
Flipkart,
Snapdeal, Limeroad and Zivame are leaning on analytics
and
algorithms to try to read the mind of the women consumer.
“What
you see is different from the options your friend sees... based
on
location, purchases and browsing history, we can now more
accurately
tailor products for our women consumers,“ says Vasudev
of
Flipkart.
This
kind of detailing may be of interest to Lavanya Akarsh, an architect
in Bengaluru, who has expanded her online
shopping from accessories
and
apparel to books, groceries, food and even electronics. A seasoned
shopper,
Akarsh says she has quickly tired of the sameness with wares
sold in malls. “You get a sense of freshness
and exclusivity when you
shop
online because they have a far larger catalogue and some sites
such
as ASOS and Koovs offer products which aren't otherwise available
offline,“ she contends.
Ecommerce
executives also believe that the internet is allowing a large
group
of previously disconnected women to get networked -thanks to the
mobile
phone.For example, Flipkart's Vasudev says the company sold
over a
million sarees in nonmetro cities during its Big Billion Sale.
Other
executives too say that bringing women online has thrown up
some
interesting nuggets of information.
The Northeast Factor
While
Snapdeal too claimed to be selling two sarees a second at the peak
of its
festival sale, it also discovered that its largest percentage of women
shoppers
came from the northeast -a function of both a healthier gender ratio
in the region and more women getting online
for the first time.
“We
are focusing on building the right assortment and merchandise to
attract picky women shoppers,“ says Taneja
of Snapdeal. “To be sticky
customers,
women demand more creative inputs with what's in fashion,
design
cues and other style inputs.“ Elsewhere Quikr, the online seller of
used
goods, discovered that 80-85% of its users over the age of 55 are women.
It
isn't just the nuances that attract women shoppers. Multiple industry
executives
say women tend to be fairly selective with their online
destinations, but demand the moon of these
sites and apps.“Women
demand
almost infinite discoverability and freshness... every month,
we
have 30 lakh new looks on Limeroad,“ says the firm's founder and
chief executive Mukherjee. “We are building
a business that is all about
freshness
on steroids.“
She
claims that Limeroad has slowly grasped the intricacies of dealing
with
picky women consumers and browsers use its app at least 10 times
a
month -well higher than the industry average. “We have already made
deep
inroads into the fashion segment and believe we have a loyal
following,“
she adds. “We want to use this strong base to consider a move
into other women-centric markets such as
home furnishings and wellness.“
Backed
by around $45 million in VC funding (its most recent round in May
this year), Limeroad thinks reservations
over touch and feel will be trumped
by discoverability of new styles and
products.
Despite
the bubbling enthusiasm of the likes of Limeroad's Mukherjee and
her peers, avid shoppers argue that these
companies are far from the
finished
piece.
For
example, some shoppers such as Ramya Mudaliar, a homemaker
in
Mumbai, say that product descriptions are vague and shoppers are left
to use their imagination while making
purchases.“Product descriptions
could
be a lot more specific in this industry... if you're buying something
online,
you want as much detail as possible, not as little,“ says Mudaliar.
“Is
this material thick or thin, is this apparel suitable for summer or spring
... these finer details could make or mar an
online purchase.“
Even
before you get to the buying bit, other shoppers think the browsing
could
do with a rethink. Akarsh, the architect in Bengaluru, thinks that
user
interfaces for many of these ecommerce ventures are too cluttered
and do
more harm than good for these companies' prospects.
“I'd
like to shop online and want a curated and orderly list of options...
most
sites today bombard you with options and that's a massive turn off
if you
shop regularly,“ she explains. Srinivasan, the budding entrepreneur
in
Mumbai tends to agree. “There need to be more specific instructions
on
areas like product storage or cleaning and washing that ecommerce
companies
could give women,“ she adds. Sharma in Delhi too piles on.
“You
are bombarded very clumsily with options,“ she complains.
Online
women shoppers also agree that product returns, often used as a
way to
get women hooked, cut both ways.While some companies have a
smooth
returns policy (picking up products as quickly as the next day),
others
are slower and even involve a trip to the local post office.
Uniformly,
this inertia with returns prickles women consumers.
“I don't like the returns policy across most
sites ... it involves multiple
phone calls and a waste of time ... if I buy
a piece of furniture and it
takes
me ten days to have it returned or replaced, I am stuck sitting on
the
floor,“ she says.
With
the opportunity to switch loyalties just a flick of the finger away,
ecommerce
companies will need to go out of their way to pander to
India's
demanding online women shoppers.
ETM
15NOV15
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