India Online 2005: Executive Summary
It is almost close to a decade that Internet has been in use in India. How
much and in what ways has its usage evolved in these years?
How many people are already hooked on to the net and how much has its
usage deepened or spread? Among the people who are using the Internet,
how is it impacting their work and personal lives? Which consumer
Internet in segments are using the net more and for what? And so on.
Though there have been a lot of discussions on the relevance and benefits
India at of the Internet to the country and its business, and the possible
information revolution it would bring in, there has not been much
Crossroads meaningful research to capture its spread and usage in India.
Most of the information available on the status of Internet usage in India,
and the impact it has had on people's work and personal lives are fairly
incomplete and inadequate. It is difficult to derive any 'meaningful'
understanding of either the net users or the net usage in India from this
information.
The 'Internet in India at Crossroads' Report aims to fill this information
gap on the status and usage of Internet in India after a thorough analysis
of facts, figures and insights.
It also attempts to demystify the ambiguity around the current size and
penetration of Internet usage base in India by deriving a 'first hand'
estimate of the Internet user-ship in India using sound methodology and
authentic data sources.
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India Online 2005: Executive Summary
In about a decade that Internet has been in India, its usage has evolved
more in 'depth' than in 'spread'. That is, its impact and growth is being
driven more by the 'increased usage' by those who are already using the
net for some time, rather than by those who are getting added to the pie
as new users. While only 8% of the urban net users have been using it for
less than a year, 80% of them have been using it for more than 3 years
now.
In our own estimate, Internet is being used with some regularity by
Executive around 17.7 million urban Indians. With another 5.2 million using it
sparingly, its upper bound is around 23 million urban users currently. This
Summary puts the penetration of Internet among urban Indians at around 9%. For
all of India, assuming some marginal usage in rural areas, the penetration
level should be around 2%.
In terms of 'depth' of usage, almost a third of the urban Internet users are
using the net for more than 3 hours every day. Interestingly, around a
third of them are using the net 'throughout the day' and around a third of
them are logging on to the net at least 5 times a day. Clearly, urban India
is seeing the emergence of a 'netoholic'.
The caricature of a typical net user (if at all one exists) is no way near to
the 'savvy professional' that the advertisers and marketers typically
project. The savvy professional probably does not represent more than
the 'tip' of the iceberg of the urban Indian net users. The typical net user
is more the 'understated' regular soul. However, he does represent a
'reasonably' decent purchasing power. Every three out of four net users
own an automobile of some kind and every second net user has a credit
card.
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India Online 2005: Executive Summary
About 25% of net users regularly buy online. Therefore, in our estimation
there are around 4.2 million online buyers in urban India.
Some other important findings about the urban Indian net users are as
follows:
Internet is 'touching' their lives, but not 'impacting' them yet. For
most net users logging on to the net has become a daily routine.
However, personal communication is what it is most used for, followed by
mostly 'work' related activities. It is being less used for entertainment
Executive activities.
Summary Net is being used much more to search information and window shop than
to buy online. Also, increase in ‘computing' time has n o t lead to a
corresponding increase in the 'net surfing' time.
Emergence of the 'Netoholics'. About a third of the net users are
'heavy' net users. They spend more than 3 hours a day on the net, use it
throughout the day and log on at least 5 times a day.
Unlocking the 'speed' barriers is must for its growth. The real
barriers stopping the existing net users from using it more are 'technical'.
Most of the access or usage problems are linked to 'slowness' or usage
'inefficiencies'.
Image of a 'work' tool is limiting its scope of usage. Net users search
for professional information more regularly than searching for personal
information. Though it is being used a lot from homes but it is still largely
for 'working' purposes. The image of Internet in Indian minds is still 'stuck'
somewhere in the realm of a 'serious' work and communication tool.
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India Online 2005: Executive Summary
More 'security' a must for increased online buying. The possibility of
misuse of credit card or personal information is the largest and the only
major concern among those who are shopping online.
Permission marketing is the best way to reach them on the net.
Emails seem to be a better marketing option than advertising on the net.
A whole lot of net users who notice ads on the net do so mostly passively.
Clear leaders emerge as the 'preferred' websites for most net
Executive activities. In sum, to grow exponentially in urban India, Internet would
need to break two major barriers. One is the 'real' barrier of solving the
Summary technical issues related to speed and connectivity. The second is the
'perceptual' barrier of creating a more 'persuasive' relevance of Internet
in people's overall lives rather than just in their work lives. We think that
the Internet industry in India is standing at a similar 'crossroads' where
the mobile phone industry stood a few years ago. The mobile industry has
been able to transcend the perceptual barrier of mobile being a 'work
tool' and has been successful in planting it as an 'integral' part of the
modern day personal lives and lifestyles. The Internet industry also needs
to sit up and think how they can, in their own ways, transcend this
perceptual barrier and occupy a little more 'intimate' space within
people's personal lives. The big challenge for net marketers is to
transform the 'netholics' into the 'netsumers'.
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India Online 2005: Executive Summary
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Details New Delhi – 110030
Telephone : +91-11-29535098, +91-98112-56502
Email : sanjay@juxtconsult.com
Website : www.juxtconsult.com
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