Unlocking 2.0: Cab aggregators, shopping apps and travel planners see early signs of revival

• BARC and Nielsen’s report indicates that consumers are now ready to step out of their houses and the country is slowly getting up on its feet.
• While consumers are still wary about ordering food, they have started trusting cab aggregators, shopping apps and travel planners as report shows early signs of revival

BARC India and Nielsen Media’s latest report shows how consumers are gradually getting back to normalcy and have started relying on online services.

As inter/intra-state movement restrictions relax, cab aggregators and travel planners see a good revival. During the week starting from June 26, cab aggregators saw a 6% increase in users and travel planners in metro cities, whereas travel planning apps saw 17% increase in users.

Online shopping saw a hike in users by 66% and e-wallets saw an increase of 78% in their users.

However, consumers continue to be cautious about ordering food at large.

This is the tenth edition of the report on ‘Crisis Consumption on TV and Smartphones’ jointly released by BARC India and Nielsen Media.

Some of the other Key Highlights of TV and Smartphone consumption report are as follows: -

1. Total TV viewership in H1 2020 is 9% higher than 2019.
2. Total number of advertisers on TV in H1 2020 is 10% lower than H1 2019
3. With the onset of ‘unlock’ in June 2020, there is revival of Advertising on TV – significant increase in the presence of ‘top 10’ and ‘next 40’ in June 2020
4. TV viewership share for Movies, News & Kids have increased in H1 2020 vs. H1 2019 - share of GEC declined from 49% to 46% due to no original programming during lockdown period
5. In week 26 Total TV viewership recorded 1 trillion viewing minutes (15% higher than pre-COVID). Smartphone consumption, after a peak during Lockdown Phase 2, has gradually dipped to 17.2 Bn minutes but is still 7% higher as compared to Pre-COVID.
6. On TV, recent weeks show growth in primetime viewership – more pronounced in South than HSM (return of original programming) – however, levels still lower than pre-COVID
7. On Smartphones, Social N/W and Gaming show higher consumption than Pre-COVID levels, whereas VOD mirrors the pre-lockdown levels.
8. With the country opening up gradually, categories like Shopping and Mobile Payments see revival, especially amongst 25+ yrs.
9. Cab aggregators in Metros, and Travel Planners in Tier I towns show a good revival post Unlock 1.
10. Chinese Apps saw a drop in usage post the Galwan attack with the ban acting as the last nail in the coffin.

Considerations: