New Delhi: Out of the approximate 125 million internet user base in India, the female population accounts for almost 40 per cent, according to a joint study by industry body ASSOCHAM and ComScore.
The study has observed that one out of every 10 Indians is online, thereby making it about 10 per cent online user penetration in India. “Interestingly, about 75 per cent of online audience between the age group of 15-34 years, India is one of the youngest online demographic globally. This is expected to be a continuing trend in coming years, given the age distribution in India,” The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) secretary general D S Rawat said while launching the study.
“The age distribution has also contributed to consumption proportionally and its not surprising to see the growth among categories focused on younger audiences in the last 12 months,” Mr Rawat said.
Among the above age segments, 15-24 years of age group has been the fastest growing age segment online with user growth being contributed by both male and female segments. The top 5 popular categories accessed online are social networking, portals, search, entertainment and news sites, it revealed.
Among the BRIC Nations, India has been the fastest growing market adding over 18 million internet users and growing at an annual rate of 41 per cent. India is also among the top 3 fastest growing markets worldwide in the last 12 months, it said.
China added over 14 million users to reach 336 million internet users by the end of July this year. Russia and India show similar trends in online usage patterns along with similarities in e-Commerce and payment types, it added.
The top 10 sites among the travel category show a good mix of travel options as well as information sites showing online users seeking information on travel options on a regular basis. out of 5 online users in India visit the Indian Railways site, it said.
Retail category penetration has increased to 60 per cent to reach and has grown to 37.5 million unique visitors a month, an overall of 43 per cent annually. The growth has come across all retail categories and most of them show promising transactions and conversion rates along with growth in visitors, it said.
The top retail sites shown in India have each seen a growth of over 100 per cent in the last 12 months. Apparel has been the fastest growing subcategory in retail and reaches 13.4 per cent online users in India, it said.
Comparison shopping, as research of retail online grows continue to dominate. Most of the comparison shopping sites show a growth over 75per cent Y-o-Y and will continue to grow as more categories of retail come online.
Travel category has shown this trend with high overlap among OTAs and this trend is expected among online retailers as well, it said.
“Direct debit is the most commonly used payment type contributing to over 58 per cent of the overall payments in India. Cash on delivery which has been a popular mode of payment method in retail category and form close to 7 per cent of the total transactions. COS has a much higher contribution among retail category with more and more online retailers using this option to increase trials among customers,” it said.
The study said the average transaction size online in India across both travel and retail category is 31 dollars between April-June 2012.
“This amount is set to increase with consumer confidence in buying higher priced products in the coming months. Among the payment types, American Express has the highest average bill value per transaction at 110 dollars followed by Visa and MasterCard. Direct debit transactions come from IRCTC,” it added. (UNI)