The ubiquity of the internet has made it easy for individuals and businesses to sell products without geographic limitations. Also, with the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, a dramatic shift is noticed from in-person to online shopping. Consumers are relying on the digital world more than ever and businesses are forced to adapt their strategies and shift toward digital transformation with much more urgency than before. India with its fast adoption of technology is quickly gaining the title of the fastest-growing tech hub in the world but it seems like it will be difficult to hold onto the title due to its dismal digital hygiene standards.
It is no secret that Indians love sales and offers. The fact that Indians are crazy about discounts and coupons is well known. In fact, discounts are an important element of shopping for Indians and various studies in past have even revealed that most urban Indians won’t shop online, if there are no discounts, and if the price of a product is the same in the retail market near their homes.
A survey carried by VPN provider NordVPN found that India stands at 19th on a ranking of 21 countries in the National Privacy Test. The survey was launched in November 2020 and assessed the digital habits, privacy awareness, and risk tolerance of over 48,000 participants from around the world in which India scored just over 51 points on a scale of 100.
The survey further tried to reveal the reasons why Indians are showing poor performance when it comes to online safety. In the company’s bid to find a suitable answer to its query, it found that Indians are the most impulsive when it comes to online bargains. Just in order a little profit, they even compromise their digital security. Indians display below-average knowledge of digital best practices compared to the rest of the world.
Discounts affect consumers buying behaviour:
Price perception is the only thing that comes into account when a consumer buys something. When they think they are getting a good deal, they become more inclined towards a purchase. A customer often turns to buy a product if they found a discounted price tag. This technique has been clearly understood by online shopping stores and it is therefore that the online platforms now try to add the ingredient of discounts or sales on almost all days of the year to make the delicious dish of profit.
This opportunistic behaviour of customers gets exploited sometimes. The need and desire of the customers for getting discounts often makes them vulnerable and lands them in an unwanted situation. The survey done by NordVPN gave an example about how around 51 percent of the Indians would buy a Netflix or Spotify subscription if they found an offer on eBay at a lower price than the official rate without even being aware of the fact that streaming service accounts sold on eBay at a lower price than usual are almost stolen accounts.
Such purchase of stolen accounts can lead to a bigger loss in the future. If malware gets accidentally installed in the system can even head the person towards losing his important credentials.