The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of internet services across income and location demographics, a survey by JP Morgan has revealed. The most sharp and durable increase has been in the use of online payments, video conferencing, on-demand video and grocery. Education and health also figure high in the list, the survey has noted.
Acceleration has been the least in online shopping for electronics, apparel and food delivery, while respondents signalled a drop in ride-hailing usage during pandemic. “The rising spending and frequency of online orders and meaningful acceptance of online grocery was a structural positive for the evolution of Indian e-commerce,” JP Morgan has noted. However, the sample size for the survey was quite small, of only 530 respondents.
As per the survey results, respondents spend most time on online videos, followed by social media and chatting. On average, respondents shop once a day, stream audio twice a day, watch videos and browse news thrice a day, frequent social media and chat four times a day.
About 68% of respondents now spend over 25% of their monthly budgets online and 64% order more frequently versus pre-Covid levels.
Safety and convenience have been cited as key factors driving greater online ordering ahead of value/price and selection.
Grocery has made the most strides in online retail with 65% of respondents increasing usage over the last six months and 56% more comfortable buying groceries online. While respondents remain somewhat hesitant of buying fresh groceries and food online, 63% intend to keep usage above pre-Covid levels post-pandemic too.
As per the survey results, all forms of media consumption are shifting online across print, video and audio.
There has been a sticky increase in video consumption and propensity to pay. About 62% of respondents have increased video consumption and 55% are likely to maintain higher consumption post-pandemic, while 67% are more comfortable paying for online content, the survey has found.
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