Video
One of the most challenging and exciting implications for companies in India is the opportunity to shape consumption patterns. Nikhil Prasad Ojha, a partner with Bain's Consumer Products practice, identifies two ways to unlock consumption opportunities in India: Tailor products and business models for the Indian market; and create a digital agenda centered around voice, video and vernacular.
Read the Bain Brief: Future of Consumption in Fast-Growth Consumer Markets: India
Read the transcript below.
NIKHIL PRASAD OJHA: More than one billion Indians will have access to the Internet. As they get connected, it is these technology-savvy consumers who are going to define the consumption trend. Digitally influenced purchases will become the norm; 40% or more of all purchases will have gone through product discovery or prepurchase research online.
These connected consumers will also be major influencers for the purchases made by their friends and family. At any given income level, the connected consumers will spend a higher amount on durables. They will spend more to upgrade their product choice. And they will have a clear idea of what is the difference between the just-right and the best-in-class products that they have available.
Value consciousness and usership have been hallmark Indian traits much before the sharing economy came into vogue. So sharing, renting, subscriptions model, these things that speak to the Indian value consciousness will do very well in this country. Firms that wish to unlock the consumption opportunity in India need to do two things.
One, that's well-known, which is innovate for India—not just your product and offer but also your go-to-market and your business model. And the second, which isn't very well appreciated until now, is that in digital, the future is going to look very different from the past. Make sure that your digital agenda is centered around voice, around video, and around vernacular.
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