NEW DELHI: Online shoppers in India look at several things such as ratings, reviews, price, date of delivery before looking for details such as country of origin when they make purchases online, according to findings of a survey by social media community platform LocalCircles on Sunday.
Consumers look for a variety of details while making a purchase online with only 37% of consumers specially looked for the “country of origin” tag on their products while most of them sought details such as price and delivery date.
The survey received over 16,300 responses in 239 districts of India. LocalCircles conducted a survey to get a sense of how relevant ‘country of origin’ tag is for shoppers.
All respondents sought price and delivery date details while placing orders, followed by ratings and reviews.
“While only 37% consumers said they look for country of origin, 83% said they look for ratings and reviews information, something that most e-commerce platforms are trying to strengthen currently. MRP and discount information is being sought by 82% consumers while 62% ecommerce consumers seek best before date on human consumption products. Price and delivery date was of prime importance to all e-commerce customers,” LocalCircles said.
The survey comes as the government has asked e-commerce players to display the country of origin of products sold on their platforms, with the government aiming to reduce import dependency on China after soldiers of the two neighbours clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) earlier this month. E-commerce companies have sought time to comply with the necessary requirements, Mint reported earlier.
Moreover, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal, which is used by government departments for public procurement, has made it mandatory for sellers to enter the ‘country of origin’ while registering all new products.
The ask, however, is open to multiple interpretations since several goods are made with components imported from different countries while they could be assembled in another country.
LocalCircles said the term ‘country of origin’ is open to interpretations as a product could have majority of its components originating in one country while the final assembly could have happened in a different country and most sellers do not have an easy way of knowing that.
LocalCircles suggests that instead of the seller filling up the field manually, it may be easier to have the sellers upload the image of the principal display panel along with products images. This will also ensure parity between physical retail and ecommerce as the consumer will have access to product packaging via both the channels.
