Indian consumers digitally active; but not aware

Digital consumption in India is on a rise with Indian consumers actively engaging on digital platforms, however, one in four consumers are victims of online fraud, according to Experian’s Digital Consumer Insights report.

The report is based on a response from a consumer survey across 10 APAC markets namely Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. According to the study, as brands and consumers look for easier ways to buy and sell products online via mobile devices – the opportunity for online fraud is escalating simultaneously.

Based on the nature of consumer behaviour, the report classified Indians as digitally savvy, with a high willingness to share data for better experience and a low tendency to switch providers in an even of fraud.

Amongst APAC, India is the highest country –with close to 90% respondents consuming digital services. However, 24% of Indians have directly experienced fraud while transacting online. When it comes to data sharing, Indian consumers are most comfortable sharing data with banks-50% and least with branded retailers-30%. About 50% of Indians were willing to share their personal data in order to avail various service offerings, the report said.

Talking about the report, Vaishali Kasture, country head, Experian India said: “Through the study we observed that consumers from India, are driven by convenience and are less aware about online frauds when compared to other APAC countries. Prevalent customer practice to bear the cost of the fraud is not a solution to mitigating digital frauds, more needs to be done to build awareness and collectively fight fraud”.