51% of Online Shoppers Use Two or More Devices Online in India

India’s online shoppers have seen a paradigm shift in last decade. The fierce competition of online players, increase of smartphones usage and internet penetration has resulted in an extended customer online journey across devices.



Criteo released its latest research ‘The State of Cross-Device Commerce - India’ on consumers’ online shopping habits. The report reveals that 51 % of online shoppers in India use two or more devices for shopping; highlighting a clear need for retailers to deepen their understanding of cross-device consumer behavior trends.

Research Highlights:

Cross-Device Measurement Means Smarter Spending and Higher Returns

Shifting to a user-centric view that leverages advanced cross-device measurement tools can help companies accurately identify a consumer and capture a holistic view of their shopping journey. This approach aligns with buying behavior and the intent to more accurately report transaction attribution. The case for proper cross-device measurement, identification, and attribution is clear:

• Clearly, 1 in 2 transactions may be misappropriated without cross-device measurement
• Conversion rates using cross-device are up to 2x higher than a per-device view

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Mobile Continue to be a Dominant Force for Final Purchase

The customer journey remains dynamic across devices, but mobile is showing a higher transaction rate. Some key consumer buying trends from September 2016 to December 2016 are:

• Out of total cross-device transactions, 24% of first device browsing begin with a smartphone
• Out of total shoppers who complete transactions on smartphones, 55% browse on multiple devices
• Cross-device buyers are evenly represented across the three purchases devices, smartphones (55%), tablets (56%) and desktops (50%)



Smartphones Are the Key Device in Cross-Device Buying
The “browse on your smartphone, buy on your desktop” trend is officially dead. Instead, consumers now use their smartphones for both searching and purchasing, making it even more important for retailers to provide a synchronized experience across desktop and mobile:
• Out of total cross-device transactions, only 14% shoppers have smartphones as first devices for browsing but final devices for purchase are desktops
• Out of total cross-device transactions, about 39% shoppers have desktops as first devices for browsing but final devices for purchase are smartphones
• In India, desktop purchases peak during work hours, while mobile devices dominate during non-office hours