How brands can reach offline shoppers on Amazon in India

October 16, 2024 | By Shaunakraj Deshpande, Marketing Manager

Woman on laptop

In recent years, India has been considered one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Along with this growth comes one of the fastest-emerging online shopping industries.1 While online shopping is on the rise, advertisers should consider the “research online, purchase offline” (ROPO) phenomenon as part of consumers’ paths to purchase.

To delve deeper into this, Amazon Ads India and Nielsen conducted a store-exit survey between June to August 2022, covering over 2,600 respondents across 16 cities and towns in India. The study analyzed the path-to-purchase behavior of high-engagement categories.2 Below, we share a few key takeaways from the study that could challenge some of the preconceived notions that advertisers may have.

Most planned shoppers explore online before making a purchase

Almost 80% of the respondents in the survey revealed that they plan their purchases, which typically involves some kind of research before buying. And among the planned shoppers, 61% first explore online, either before visiting a physical store or during a physical store visit.


Planned shoppers exploration data before purchase


Planned shoppers exploration data before purchase



A majority of the online browsers visit Amazon.in before committing to a purchase

Among those who browse online, 68% chose to visit Amazon.in before they went ahead and purchased something from a physical store. This effectively makes Amazon a popular destination for online exploration among offline shoppers.


Online shopper data


Online shopper data



What makes offline shoppers visit Amazon?

Offline shoppers have multiple objectives while browsing online before as well as during their store visits. Among these offline shoppers, 74% say they visit Amazon to compare prices and validate their purchase using customer reviews. These shoppers are also seeking more product knowledge and discovering new products when visiting Amazon.in.


reasons for shopping


Website visiting reasons among online shoppers



Consumers purchasing offline aren’t exclusively “offline shoppers”

Contrary to the popular belief that offline and online consumers are mutually exclusive, around 60% of the offline shoppers have shopped online as well in the past six months. In addition, 67% of them have preferred Amazon for their online purchases.

Offline Amazon shoppers


Offline Amazon shoppers



Recommendations

1. Understand your audiences’ behavior

Consumers have an omnichannel way of conducting product discovery and purchase. Brands could try to better understand consumers’ online and offline behavior to remarket them optimally using display ad properties.

2. Engage your audience using Amazon Ads

Brands can use audience intelligence and customer insights available on Amazon Pi to engage with relevant audiences using Amazon Ads video solutions, whether they purchase online or offline.

3. Meet your audience where they are

Brands can engage with the relevant consumers who purchase online on Amazon as well as offline by using full-funnel advertising campaigns built on sponsored ads, display, and DSP video solutions.

4. Increase upper-funnel investments on Amazon Ads

Brands can raise awareness among customers across their online and offline journeys using Amazon DSP and Fire TV, as well as content integrations using Amazon miniTV.

If you have limited experience, contact us to request services managed by Amazon Ads. Budget minimums apply.

1 eMarketer, India Ecommerce Forecast, 2023
2 Nielsen and Amazon Ads, IN, 2022