Internet Shopping: The Second Wave

Their existence is old news. But their essence is still evolving. Which is why online shops could yet transform us as consumers

There’s something oddly old school about internet shopping. Perhaps, very old school. There’s no meandering through aisles, or returning with bursting shopping bags that can throw you wildly off your diet plan. You simply get what you choose. You can also get rid of what you have, hopefully.

Last week, I posted an advertisement on a few websites to sell window grills my landlord left behind. I haven’t received any promising responses yet. My ad stood shoulder to shoulder with cars for sale, apartments for rent, housemaid services, electrical appliances, books, music, clothes, furniture, lonely hearts; even a proud declaration of weight loss, in the ‘lost and found’ section. (Maybe it needs more talking up?)

Lately, online retail websites have mushroomed. The internet is full of promise. There are lots of interesting things going on; though it’s still early days, there’s enough to get people hooked. And, there seem to be modest beginnings of public support. The convenience of booking travel and movie tickets online has lured many, while others are wandering social network addicts. Book lovers too have found themselves special nooks. So far, online bookstores have been the most successful, aside from travel and ticketing websites.

In the real world, bookstore browsing is no longer what it used to be. Bookshops that occupy space and sell only books will eventually have to down their shutters, so you’re at the mercy of music, cards, stationery, toys, chocolates and whatever else. Strangely, like their online counterparts, there’s often a ‘most recommended’ shelf that by default is stacked with what’s most popular. And at the end of it all, you rarely get what you’re looking for.

For years, Ramana Rajgopaul, a retired management professional, writer and resident of Pune, had been looking for a reliable online bookstore. He is your quintessential book shopper. He looks for good books. He collects books. He loves books. And he doesn’t like distractions.

After several bad experiences, including goof-ups of accounting and books not being delivered, Rajgopaul discovered Flipkart. “One day, I just stumbled upon the website while googling,” he says, “and I’ve been pretty loyal for four years now.” He orders at least five books every month, right from his armchair, and also manages a neat discount of at least Rs 1,000 on each bill. This alone is a superb incentive. He’s tried out every possible portal, but admits that none had him addicted; now that he’s found a quicker and cheaper option, he’s hooked. “I’ve stopped buying [books] from Amazon and Barnes & Noble,” declares the self-proclaimed retired hippy.

Encouraged, Rajgopaul has ventured to buy things other than books as well. An electric kettle, toaster and idli cooker… from eBay. “I spend about three-four hours online every day, blogging and browsing, and have put several of my friends on to these websites as well.”

He is not typical of his generation, though. Most of India’s elderly are allergic to the internet. Thrift being their operating template, they avoid the use of credit cards for any kind of payment—online or off. Also, they say, what’s shopping if you can’t touch, feel and smell what you buy? “Most people today are fascinated by malls,” says Rajgopaul, “They like to see, evaluate and then spend.” Youngsters, on the other hand, want to buy everything they see, he quips. He lives with his 94-year-old father and 40-year-old son. “Our needs are no-nonsense. Shopping online suits me well. At least for some things.”

Supermarket shopping is anything but no-nonsense. And it has spawned a whole new science of how we spend— or ought to. You’ll always find the fizzies stacked near the munchies, for example. The milk and butter will be in the farthest corner, and the toffees near the billing counter. There’s always something new to try out. For those who want to do just that, internet shopping is waiting to be explored.

Shyamala Srivatsan is a schoolteacher in Chennai. She’s new to e-commerce, but is excited by the promise of what it has to offer. “I once needed pre-cut vegetables. I found this website Veggibazaar, run by a couple, and I found them quite efficient,” she says, “I even made enquiries if they could supply fruits and veggies to our school.” It is run by a couple whose website indicates they stock themselves on the basis of actual orders to ensure the freshness of deliveries. The service is aimed at people with constraints in cutting and peeling fruits and vegetables. Importantly, they charge no premium over market prices for this.

Like most Indian women, Shyamala does the bulk of her shopping in the first week of the month. She usually orders her supplies from neighbourhood kirana stores, and generally prefers to buy her vegetables fresh off the racks from the local bazaar. But for special requirements, she’s found a great option in Veggibazaar. “I am allergic to handling yam, and I love it! So I order it online. It comes cut and neatly packed,” says Shyamala.

She’s curious about what else she can get online. She has bought a T-shirt from myntra.com, a few movie tickets, and other knick-knacks with her debit card. Unlike Rajgopaul, she speaks for a large chunk of people with the same dilemma: whether or not to use her credit card. “My husband likes to use it as minimally as possible,” she says, open to trying it but also apprehensive about losing money (to online fraud). On the odd day, she likes to go to the supermarket and pick up interesting stuff off the rack, things she doesn’t get at her local kirana. For her, it’s all about convenience and options.

Will there come a time when everybody adopts online grocery shopping? And at any time of the day or night? Today, that suggestion is not all that ridiculous. If it comes to that, consumer companies will have to change the way they think about inventory. Right now, nearly 40 per cent of all grocery shopping is done in the first week of every month. And we top up supplies on an as-and-when basis, usually every weekend. Also, every time we visit the supermarket, we make impulse purchases. This is the information that retailers use to re-stock their shelves. Though we’re a long way off from a mass switchover, if online shopping does catch on, it could turn conventional retail ideas topsy-turvy.

In the bricks-and-mortar environment, the more attractive the product display, the more strategic its placement on a shelf, the better its sales. In supermarket lingo, it’s ‘visual merchandising’. It’s what makes supermarket aisles so alluring. Interestingly, it plays an important role in the online world too. The online counterpart of visual merchandising is attractive photography and tagging, or trending. For instance, when we buy a certain item, the website helpfully indicates what other people with similar interests also purchased. This is just as crafty as placing mouth fresheners at billing counters.

Some purchases are immune to manipulation. Like art. Yet, here too, eliciting an impulse—a markedly more sophisticated one—is the weapon of choice. And this is visible on the internet as well. Over the last decade, a small clique of design bloggers has cropped up that’s extremely active online. They patronise one another’s work, and also have a similar clientele. They are aesthetically aware, and their regular patrons range from filmmakers and architects to advertising professionals. “Perhaps typical, but all are connoisseurs of good-looking stuff,” concludes Vineeta Nair, a blogger and former advertising art director who now runs a design accessories business, Artnlight. She started blogging for fun, networked with similar minds, and quit her secure advertising job to retail home accessories—on the internet.

Nair started out, a year-and-a-half ago, with an exhibition of goods that she blogged about, and so was born her idea of going into it full time. She retails home accessories on an aggregative website shopo.in that hosts stores by other art aficionados with a similar aesthetic sensibility. “The Indian market is on the threshold of something big,” she believes, “Even though the country is not so tech savvy yet, the large population works in our favour.” Even a small proportion of online shoppers is enough to make the effort worthwhile.

The internet has made art accessible to many more than was once possible, transforming how people engage with it. On Vineeta’s part, from being an art blogger, she has evolved into an art entrepreneur. Though she herself is not such an avid internet shopper anymore, on occasions that she does it, she is keenly aware of how priceless it is to find a coveted item with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Shopping, admittedly, has other aspects too. Some consider it a social occasion. Others see it as a hobby and recommend it as a stress buster. But social networks have moved online. And if e-shops can recreate the airy feeling of walking through aisles, and somehow relay the smells leading you to the food section, it’ll be the death of the supermarket. But for now, they are luring customers with tempting deals. It may not compare with the heady feeling evoked by a victorious haggle with your everyday vegetable vendor, but it has an allure that could prove irresistible.

Someday, the internet will change how we shop. As we adapt and evolve as shoppers, there will be the inevitable existential questions. And so, old school will perhaps have to evolve too—even if it’s old school. It would need tweaking. Just like my ad for iron grills. I simply must sell them this week.

About The Author

Deepa Krishnan