Digital Consumer in Tier 2 Cities of North India Analyzing and Discerning Online Behaviour

Abstract

Globalization has rapidly increased the opportunities of doing business in any countries. Many global online marketers have started to establish its business in many developing countries. Online commerce players in India have witnessed a lot of competition in the market as many new players have entered in market and now struggling to gain market share. Growing economy and increased buying capacity in these developing areas undoubtedly have a good opportunity to improve domestic and international trade. There has been an increase in international trade over the years. E-tailing is one of the fastest growing segments. One of the noteworthy aspects is that people from tier 2/3 cities in India have become active online shoppers and are leading a more aspirational lifestyle. Limited retail penetration and inadequate product availability and diverse demographics of consumers (who are now internet users) are forming a sweet spot for online marketers. Online marketers aiming to respond to the growing potential of tier 2 cities need to identify people perceptions and formulate effective and desired market offerings as per a new customer segment. Presently, discounts and logistics remain the focus area of online marketers to appeal to consumers. These deep discounts model can benefit the larger players who can easily afford discounts and aggressive advertising costs for a longer time. However, it would be challenging for smaller online marketer players who are already struggling to create a niche by focusing on a particular product segment. In a highly competing market (online marketplace) e-marketers need to come up with unique market strategies (segment-specific) to deal with the consumers from tier 2 cities. An understanding of the attitudes/behavior of tier 2 online consumers could be a valuable source for online marketers or practitioners to formulate effective marketing strategies. newline newlineOnline consumer attitude has been an important area of empirical and conceptual e-tailing research in last two decades.