The holiday season is upon us and so are this year’s biggest online shopping events. As shoppers worldwide gear up for a digital shopping extravaganza, product leaders in e-commerce companies must get ready to meet the surge in demand and make their platforms engage with users better.
To provide insights for product leaders into consumer intentions, behaviors, and preferences during the holiday season, Cisco AppDynamics conducted the Seasonal Shopping Pulse Survey 2023 with 12,000 consumers across 12 countries, including India.
Here is a breakdown of the key insights from the survey, particularly from the perspective of Indian consumers.
Shift to Digital Dominance
The findings shed light on a monumental shift: a staggering 86% of Indian respondents expressed their desire to conduct more holiday shopping online this year. Also, 65% of respondents emphasized that retail brands have just one opportunity to impress them this holiday season, regardless of the discounts offered.
This indicates that user experience and brand perception will significantly influence customer loyalty. For e-commerce product owners, this represents an opportunity to captivate fresh audiences and boost revenues.
However, this digital shopping fervor comes with a catch – the demand for flawless online experiences being higher. Shoppers now expect not just products but a seamless digital experience.
Seamless User Experience
This year, consumers worldwide are set to rely heavily on applications and digital services for their holiday shopping. The survey revealed that 79% of Indian respondents plan to do more of their holiday shopping online through applications and digital services, compared to last year’s 63%. Hence, the importance of flawless digital experiences is higher than usual.
An overwhelming 80% of respondents agreed that application failures during holiday shopping would leave them feeling anxious and angry. Additionally, 72% stated that such failures would incline them to return to physical stores. This highlights the critical role of smooth digital operations in retaining customers.
Why are Shoppers Turning to Online Shopping?
In the survey, several reasons were mentioned for this preference shift in online shopping. Indians stated they choose online platforms because of the variety of choices (60%), avoiding last-minute shopping chaos (42%), time constraints (33%), convenience (35%), the ability to shop during work hours (38%), love for innovative digital services (43%), and a preference for the digital shopping experience (29%).
What can Product Owners do?
Product owners need to prioritize seamless user experience for their customers. This means having a fast, reliable, and easy-to-use website and mobile app. It also means offering a variety of payment options, including buy now, pay later.
Additionally, they need to offer competitive prices and promotions. This is especially important as consumers are becoming more and more price-conscious.
To succeed during this holiday shopping season, they should personalize the shopping experience, create a sense of urgency, make it easy for customers to share their purchases, and provide excellent customer service.
This can be done using data to learn about customer preferences and interests, offering limited-time discounts and promotions, integrating social sharing buttons into the website and mobile app, and being responsive to customer inquiries.
Delivering on these fronts will not only boost sales but also foster long-term customer relationships. This survey illuminates a clear path for online retailers to capitalize on the upcoming holiday shopping frenzy.
