Online buying yet to take off: Gartner

A Gartner India study–conducted in seven metropolitan cities in India

covering 3,000 families–on Internet surfing and buying behavior has found that

only 2.2 per cent of the surfers have ever conducted a B2C transaction and paid

online. Another 3.6 per cent had placed orders over the Net.

Payment over the counter was the most popular transaction method, followed by

the usage of credit cards. With 50 per cent going for it, movie booking turned

out to be the most popular product or service availed on the Net. However, it

should be noted that this service did not involve any online payment. This was

followed by books, audiocassettes, CDs and software (which includes applications

and games).

Among all the places, Delhi had the highest proportion of people who have

done online transactions. Horizontal portals were the most preferred sites for

these purchases, followed by e-tail verticals.

One fifth of the non-buyers have expressed a distinct interest in buying over

the Net. Amongst the strong desire group, over one fourth have a credit card.

These users constitute an immediate market opportunity.

About 75 per cent of the total surfers said that they were more or equally

comfortable buying a service than a tangible product on the Net. Among those who

had ever gone in for online purchases, about 88 per cent were of the same

opinion.