The consistent change in consumer behaviour for the last two years indicate that this digital shift will only grow in the coming years
India has been witnessing a massive change in consumer behaviour over the last few years. The change is a result of increased purchasing power of people, coupled with exposure to innovations. In the last two years, this behaviour witnessed a sea change because of the Covid pandemic and the disruptions it caused worldwide.
COVID-19 pushed people globally to adopt digital products and services – the increased use of online shopping, digital payments, virtual gaming, online classes are some fragments of this digital growth. With this paradigm shift in consumer behaviour, companies had no other choice but to restructure their operations and transform the way they connected and interacted with customers.
In India, growth in digital was not only seen in the metro cities, but people in the smaller cities too accessed digital platforms at their comfort. The availability of low-cost internet and ever-increasing smartphone penetration was instrumental for making digital inroads in Tier 2/ 3 cities and beyond. The pandemic further ramped up digital adoption in these cities, with more and more people getting familiar with evolving digital offerings like OTT streaming platforms, online classes, digital finance, telemedicine etc. The consistent change in consumer behaviour for the last two years indicate that this digital shift will only grow in the coming years.
As the world went digital, we have seen faster adoption of services across industries. The personal finance sector also saw a huge change in the demand and supply ecosystem. Companies operating in this domain have been working consistently towards strengthening their digital arm so that they can boost their consumer outreach and cater to the growing needs of consumers. The transition has been adopted by every category in the finance domain, be it mutual fund companies, stock market brokers or the insurance sector.
Digital innovations are also driving financial awareness across smaller towns and cities, where consumers today are more aware of financial products and services compared to the last five years. The Government too played an instrumental role, by empowering people to go digital. Multiple drives like Digital India, Atmanirbhar Bharat have been encouraging people across the country to make them self-reliant.
The insurance sector also saw rapid changes in how insurance products were bought, sold, and serviced. It was only due to the digital infrastructure that insurance companies have been able to cater to the sudden insurance demand upsurge, post-Covid. InsurTech companies have emerged as game-changers in the insurance space, which helped consumers avail of insurance in no time.
InsurTech bridged the gap between insurance demand and lack of supply due resulting from the physical branch model of insurance. With digital solutions, insurance companies were able to reach out and insure people, especially in those smaller towns and cities, where the branch model of insurance did not exist. This digital change in insurance will only grow in the coming years, now that consumers are more aware of the advantages of digital insurance.
Talking about the overall personal finance segment, companies should keep innovating their channel strategies to expand their customer base. This is possible by investing in the right technologies. It is more important than ever for personal finance companies to study and understand the evolving consumers’ psyche and financial needs, drive awareness around the same, and build digital strategies accordingly.
In addition, they should also look at creating personalized products to cater to the specific needs of consumers, thereby building robust and long-standing relations with their set of consumers.
by, Indraneel Chatterjee, Co-Founder, RenewBuy
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