WE DISCOVERED MAGIC!
If there is one word that truly inspired me since C19 broke, it has to be “Disruption.” I am a first-gen college student from my family. It’s safe to say my household is a crazy place charged with Baby boomers, Gen X, Y and Z voices! Neither of us understands what the other says, but we harmonise in conjunction when it boils down to the way we shop! Yes, since COVID we shifted the way we function as a family and presumably will fall back to purchasing online going ahead due to the following reasons:
- Stores are now a click away!
We love how small, medium and large businesses have responsive designs of their websites optimized to mobile. As consumers of mobile-first businesses, we look for the performance and usability of online stores. We bounce, when we feel there are tech glitches, let’s say a page or a feature takes forever to load/respond.
From a business perspective, it’s surprising to see how Baby boomers & Gen-X comprehend this information gap and understand that similar services are provided by competitors when a website/app doesn’t function to their ease. I’d say it’s time we rethink the Tech adoption curve and align business goals accordingly. Laggards are no longer to be overlooked. The average user for every business has changed with COVID.
By 2022, India is set to have 820 million smartphone users. I’m not the best at math, but I can vouch that’s a huge number that decodes to an extraordinary potential for any business to reach anywhere. Hyperlocal? Glocal? Global? Whatever you name it, make sure you bring your business to the consumer.
2. 1.2 years & we almost considered everything online!
Doctor consults
- Medicines
- Blood work
- Food & Beverages
- Apparel
- Taking a tour of art galleries
- Praying/ Practising religion
- Pet care
- Getting our eyes checked
- H&B services
- Babycare
- Auto-mobile
- Education
- Weddings
- Funeral services
- Birthdays….. You get the point!
We as a family look for most of these things before we click Submit/Pay!
Proximity, Convenience, Safety, Ease, Delivery times, App/Website interface, Customer support, Discoverability on social media, Product catalogues, Are there groups/communities where I can learn about your product/service, get reviews/testimonials, register for a demo, product comparisons, inventory availability, price, ad deals, payment option integrations from payment wallets, design, colour, the values a business stands for, are they donating to charities to help COVID relief initiatives? You name it!
Often I observed, the more intuitive and inclusive an app/website/business is; the better it turned out for my family to retain attention and realize a purchase. Not in a million years, I thought my grandparents/my elderly parents would teach me the know-how of trading online. Bear in mind, I am the first-gen student here. SIMPLY. EMPOWERING! Another interesting observation, the older generation has impeccable patience to teach something to people around them. If they like something, they are the best word-of-mouth.
3. TIER 2, 3, 4 cities are your untapped markets!
Indian users are fastly adapting to businesses and technologies that speak their regional language/dialect. There is a ton of untapped market in these cities in India where SMB’s can grow.
My point being, bring your businesses to our doorsteps. We have discovered the magic of small screens!
