Further, nine in ten people are aware of quick commerce services, and about half used it in the past week, indicating the growing importance of this fast-growing market in everyday lives, the study showed.
Personalised recommendations and discovery, creators, and messaging are making it easier for people to shop online, especially through quick commerce platforms, according to two separate surveys by Meta covering more than 2,000 respondents each, studying quick commerce adoption and online shopping behaviours in Tier II and III towns and cities.
About 55% of respondents used messaging platforms to purchase a product in the last 12 months. Further, 87% of Gen Z respondents discovered new products via Meta’s social media platforms. This cohort also led adoption of niche categories such as sportswear, wellness, and pet supplies.
The study found that while grocery and personal care products experienced the highest association with quick commerce services, there is a growing adoption of more niche categories such as hair care, skincare, and health and wellness.
“Given the number of players, new entrants, and evolving consumer habits, quick commerce is beginning to be an option for online shopping beyond just milk and eggs,” Arun Srinivas, director and head of ads business (India) at Meta, told ET.
Discover the stories of your interest
He added that Meta’s Artificial Intelligence-powered discovery engine played a key role, with over half of the content people experienced on Instagram being AI recommended, and businesses using Image Generation seeing an estimated 7% increase in conversions.Fashion, food and beauty and mobiles are the top categories for online consumers in the tier-II and III markets. Even in categories such as jewellery and accessories, large electronics, home furnishings, online and offline purchases are now at par.
“A few years ago, online shopping was seen as a gateway for tier-II and tier-III consumers into the world of fashion and choices available in Delhi or Mumbai. Now, we see that people are looking at online as a sustainable option across categories,” Srinivas said.
Among influencer followers, 46% said watching an influencer promote a product and comparing different products influenced them to make a purchase.
Notably, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was the preferred payment method for 51% of online shoppers in these markets.
