May 6th, 2022, Bhawna Singh
Fashion, beauty and food are the top three shopping categories among this cohort
As the World celebrates mothers, YouGov’s latest survey reveals their online behaviour and shows three-quarters of urban Indian mothers use the Internet to shop online- one of the highest rated activities among them in the digital world, along with streaming. Among the various groups of mothers, millennial moms, those aged between 26 and 41 are the most likely to shop online (at 80%), making them the most attractive cohort for online businesses.
With the pandemic hastening the transition to the digital space, it is not surprising to see the Internet becoming the go-to place for mothers- especially millennials, to fulfil their shopping needs. When asked where do they discover new brands, social media apps (89%) was listed as the top source by millennial moms, followed by social groups (WhatsApp groups, etc) and influencers & bloggers (84% and 52%, respectively). However, when it comes to trusting these sources, less than half of those who say they discover brands through social media or social groups, said they trust these sources. The least disparity is visible between those who say they discover new brands through influencers and those who say they trust them for their recommendations (52% and 24%), indicating that this could be a potentially more viable channel for brands to communicate and engage with this audience.
Among the various categories, fashion shopping (clothes, footwear, etc.) is the most common purchase category online for millennial moms (82%), followed by make-up & beauty and food & groceries (70% each). Baby Care is another important category for these shoppers (at 64%). In fact, Baby Care (64%), home services (like a home salon, plumber, etc) and specialised services (like party/events planning) are more appealing to millennial moms and they are more likely to buy these products or services online as compared to mothers from other age groups.
For millennial mothers who buy make-up or beauty online, reviews & recommendations and ingredient list of the product are the most important factors to consider when making a purchase (at 76% and 74%, respectively). They are more important than price (72%), offers & discounts (67%), return policy and delivery time (59% and 58%).
Furthermore, more than half of them consider sustainability of a product when choosing what to buy and 41% emphasize on accreditations. This highlights that this group emphasizes more on the quality and safety of a product than price and value-added services.
When asked what ingredients would make them more likely to buy a product, eco-friendly and chemical-free/ non-toxic ingredients were top-rated by millennial mothers. In fact, less than half said they consider foreign ingredients or foreign tech in beauty appealing, indicating that natural and environmentally safe products have a higher preference among this cohort.
Having a favourite beauty brand is common among mothers and most millennial moms have a favourite. Having said that three-quarters are willing to try a new brand (76%). In fact, millennial moms seem to be less price-sensitive and are more likely than other mums to say they will pay a premium for good quality skincare products even if cheaper options are available in the market (77% millennial moms ready to pay a premium vs 66% Gen X and 63% Gen Z moms).
**Data collected online by YouGov Omnibus among 1017 mothers (out of which 510 were millennial mothers) in India between 26th April and 2nd May 2022 using YouGov’s panel of over 15 million people worldwide. Data is representative of the adult online population in the country.