All you need to know about HAQM shoppers in India

12 December 2023 | By Shaunakraj Deshpande, Marketing Manager

A man and a woman

HAQM Shopper Insights – India

Online shopping is a fast-growing trend in India, expected to grow by around 17.5% in 2023.1 To help you understand the shopping behaviour of your customers and the role HAQM plays in their shopping journey, HAQM Ads conducted a study2 in June and July 2022 of around 2,000 internet users across India, using an online survey. The following are some of the key insights from the study:

1) The majority of internet users have browsed/explored as well as purchased on shopping websites.

82%

Respondents have explored/browsed on shopping websites in the past six months.

60%

Respondents have shopped online in the past six months

2) The majority of customers who explored online preferred HAQM for browsing.

63%

Respondents chose HAQM for product discovery

3) The majority of shoppers visited HAQM early on in their shopping journey.

Contrary to the popular belief that consumers shop on HAQM just when they are about to make a purchase, the study showed that most shoppers visited HAQM quite early, during their exploration phase. And only a small portion of the shoppers chose not to visit HAQM until they are ready to make a purchase.


Visited HAQM during exploration phase

72%


Visited HAQM when ready to buy

27%

4) Among the top deciding factors for making purchases on HAQM, brand name isn’t at the top of shoppers’ mind.

Approximately 50% of the shoppers surveyed considered brand name as an important factor while deciding to make a purchase. Therefore, the other 50% of shoppers may have been inspired by different/newer brands.

Top deciding factors while purchasing on HAQM.in

60%

Quality

51%

Reviews and ratings

46%

Product features

58%

Price offers and discounts

50%

Brand of the product

39%

Payment options like EMI, COD etc.

54%

Returns – replacements and refunds

50%

Brand warranty and guarantee

36%

Delivery options and instalment facility

5) Almost half of the shoppers were undecided on the brand to purchase when they started their product discovery on HAQM.

53%

Had a particular brand in mind

37%

Had no brand in mind, and were exploring brands

10%

Had a few brands in mind, but not finalized any brand.

6) HAQM helps shoppers discover new brands while making a purchase.

Almost half of the shoppers on HAQM considered a new brand while making a purchase. This reinforces the fact that HAQM is a place for exploration and consideration of newer or untried brands, and not just a destination for completing a planned purchase.

53%

Bought from the initial set of considered brands

47%

Considered a new brand before a purchase

Recommendations for advertisers

  1. Focus on an upper-funnel strategy on HAQM with display ads, audio ads and video ads, as most people on HAQM are coming at an early stage of exploration.
  2. A lot of HAQM shoppers are undecided on brands and would like to know more, so it is important to have a brand Store with regularly updating high-quality content.
  3. Having an always-on presence on sponsored ads and video ads would help consumers looking to increase their consideration while exploring on HAQM.

1eMarketer, India Ecommerce Forecast 2023
2HAQM Ads, IN, June – July 2022; number of survey respondents: 2,000