Online shoppers to spend Rs 22,000 cr on V-day gifts!

Online shoppers are likely to spend Rs 22,000 crore (Rs 220 billion) for buying gift articles, including cards, flowers, diamond jewellery, chocolates, toys and electronic gadgets, on Valentine's Day, claimed industry body Assocham.

The spending on the same was around Rs 16,000 crore (Rs 160 billion) last year, it said.

As per Assocham findings, about 52 per cent of online shoppers surveyed said that they prefer to shop online as e-retailers offered better deals. Half the smartphone owners in the group and nearly 18 per cent of the tablet owners use those devices to make purchases, its survey showed.

"Valentine's Day is turning out to be a heavy buying festival with a significant jump over the past four to five years," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.

This year, the number of online shoppers (32 per cent) is much higher than the last year (20.5 per cent), Assocham said.

The analysis on which covered 600 organised retailers and online-shopping companies, found that buying trends during Valentine's Week have witnessed a significant upward swing due to aggressive online discounts, wider and abundant choice keeping them indoors.

Other reasons for e-shoppers number multiplying are because of factors such as home delivery which saves time, 24x7 hours shopping with ease and availability factors for product comparisons, adds the survey.

Flowers and chocolates still remain one of the major gifting options for lovers in the age group of 18-24, whereas, gadgets, watches and expensive jewellery are some of the gifting options preferred by people in the age group of 25 and above, the study found.

As per Assocham estimates, 40 million consumers purchased something online in 2014 and this number is expected to grow to 65 million by 2015 with better infrastructure in terms of logistics, broadband and internet-ready devices. 

Online Shopping offers