Chennai going the e-way for shopping...

C Shivakumar
Chennai:
Two years ago nineteen-year-old Bipasha Adhikari brought a purple and white dress from Fashion and You for Rs 700. After that there was no looking back.

The daughter of a government employee, Bipasha is now addicted to online shopping and spends Rs 1,500 every month buying dresses, bags and other accessories. “I don’t like to travel and hate crowd. Online shopping gives me varieties to choose from and also to privacy to shop,” says the third year economics student in Madras Christian College.

Bipasha browses Fashion and You, flipkart, yebhi.com, jabong for her shopping needs. Interestingly, her parents don’t shop online. “They prefer to go to malls or shop for shopping,’ she says highlighting the digital divide that is persisting among the younger and older generations.

However, this digital divide seems to be slowly being bridged with many older people also preferring to shop online.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited assistant general manager Vijayalakshmi Vijayan prefers to shop online. I prefer to buy shoes, watches, clothing accessories and gifts besides decorative items online.

Vijaya is fond of indiavarta from where she bought her first household decorative item for Rs 900. However, she does browse other websites like jabong as well as snapdeal, which caters to her shopping needs. Online shopping provides one the luxury of shopping from one’s home, she says.

But Vijaya is afraid of online transactions. I prefer to pay in cash once the product is delivered going in for online transactions,” she says. “I don’t want to share my bank account or any other details with online websites. I am not comfortable with it and feel it is not safe,” says Vijaya.

But few like Arun Kumar Gopinath, senior manager in Cognizant technology Solutions go in for online purchases. “I only do my shopping through e-bay,” says Gopinath, who made his first purchase eight years ago. “I bought a small kids computer for around Rs 300-Rs 500. I prefer only e-bay not only for quality but also quantity. In case you are not satisfied with the product, you can return it. This is not with other websites,” he says.

Gopinath enjoys online shopping and searches across various portals before zeroing in on a product. “First I would like to check on what price the product is available in US, Singapore or any other country, the reviews about it and then only I purchase it,” says the techie.

He spends anywhere about Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000 a month. He says the products are about 50 per cent cheaper than the showroom price. “Last time I saw a top in a showroom which was priced Rs 3,000. The same toy I bought it for Rs 700 in e-bay,” Gopinath says.

Interestingly, it is the youngsters who are spreading the online shopping revolution in the cities.
Pushpita Chakraborty, a client servicing executive from a public relations firm says that her first online purchase was influenced by her friends in college. “During my undergraduation, I saw my friends purchasing products online,” says Pushpita who spends around Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per month. “The first item I brought was a handbag costing rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 from from Jabong. I mostly prefer online transactions via debit cards, she says.

Pushpita says that online shoppers are increasing every day and the product availability is also at a rise. Interestingly, it is the youngsters like her who are slowly triggering a online shopping revolution in the city which is spreading silently.




List of 10 most preferred sites:
Indiavarta.com
Ebay.com
Jabong.com
Flipkart.com
Yebhi.com
Fashionandyou.com
Amazon.com
Inksuit.com
Shopnineteen.com
Myntra.com
(as given by shoppers)