The Indian Online shopper is an unfortunate one for now.
Poor customer is bombarded with offer, advertisements and choices - of both products and the sellers
He does seem to have a lot of options for "what" to buy and from "where" to buy.
This is where the customer has been abandoned heartlessly by one and all.This is how the marketing God Kotler defined the buying process. Evaluation of alternatives is a precondition too purchase.
Before the customer reaches the buying stage, he needs to decide "what to buy" and "where to buy it from".
He gets no help in evaluating the products. The compare features available on many sites are greek and latin to customers who DO NOt understand the implications of the specifications he is being forced to go through. How many laptop buyers understand the difference between Dual-core, Quad core, Intel Core i3 and how the difference affect them. Or which washing machine buyer knows about what RPM is suitable or how many wahs programs are more than enough.
They are all defined by the seller, because this is how a seller/ manufacturer looks at his wares, but this is not how the customer sees them. For him, a good computer has good battery backup and a good washing machine, cleans clothes without consuming too much energy or water.
Basically, what is missing is a space where customer needs can be translated into product specifications.So right now the customer has numerous options in front of him, but no way to take a good decision, unless he educates himself on the product category. This in today's scenario is a whole lot of effort with little use, as the knowledge he gains is put to limited use(one product purchase) and is obsolete after a few months as the technology changes so fast that by the time he comes back to buying that product again, he will have to relearn everything. not to mention, its a lot of effort as there are numerous options.
Many such websites/knowledge base exits for more developed countries, like Consumer Reports and consumer search etc. Indian markets are evolving, and I am sure systems and sites will emerge that will do precisely the same. The increased activity on the Indian e-commerce space will trigger these enablers to come in effect, which in turn will boost the space further.
Poor customer is bombarded with offer, advertisements and choices - of both products and the sellers
He does seem to have a lot of options for "what" to buy and from "where" to buy.
This is where the customer has been abandoned heartlessly by one and all.This is how the marketing God Kotler defined the buying process. Evaluation of alternatives is a precondition too purchase.
Before the customer reaches the buying stage, he needs to decide "what to buy" and "where to buy it from".
He gets no help in evaluating the products. The compare features available on many sites are greek and latin to customers who DO NOt understand the implications of the specifications he is being forced to go through. How many laptop buyers understand the difference between Dual-core, Quad core, Intel Core i3 and how the difference affect them. Or which washing machine buyer knows about what RPM is suitable or how many wahs programs are more than enough.
They are all defined by the seller, because this is how a seller/ manufacturer looks at his wares, but this is not how the customer sees them. For him, a good computer has good battery backup and a good washing machine, cleans clothes without consuming too much energy or water.
Basically, what is missing is a space where customer needs can be translated into product specifications.So right now the customer has numerous options in front of him, but no way to take a good decision, unless he educates himself on the product category. This in today's scenario is a whole lot of effort with little use, as the knowledge he gains is put to limited use(one product purchase) and is obsolete after a few months as the technology changes so fast that by the time he comes back to buying that product again, he will have to relearn everything. not to mention, its a lot of effort as there are numerous options.
Many such websites/knowledge base exits for more developed countries, like Consumer Reports and consumer search etc. Indian markets are evolving, and I am sure systems and sites will emerge that will do precisely the same. The increased activity on the Indian e-commerce space will trigger these enablers to come in effect, which in turn will boost the space further.
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