Helped by rising disposable incomes and consumer appetite for varied options and styles, cities like Varanasi, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Noida, Jamshedpur and Ranchi are increasingly taking to online shopping.The trend is also in part being driven by the restricted presence of offline retail in some regions – in the northeast for instance, geographical built of certain areas makes it difficult for offline retailers to set up shops.
Imphal, Agartala, Silchar and Shillong are among cities in the northeast which are home to digitally savvy consumers who can navigate online apps with ease and are comfortable shopping online. “Consumers in northeastern states have been early adopters of many modern trends, including the Korean cultural wave (K-fashion, K-drama, Korean skincare). Evolving demand there is typically not serviced well by the limited presence of retail, which encourages digitally astute consumers to shop online,” an analyst said.
E-commerce players, who largely catered to consumers in metros and tier-1 cities in their initial phase of expansion, have been building capabilities to service tier-2 regions and beyond, where several customers with large wallets are more than willing to spend on a range of online products.
