These are unusual times with the country under lockdown, digital dependence among Indians has been rising more than ever. Our Indian Netizens are using their time and beginning their digital life such as to binge-watch, read, learn, and seek ideas on how they can stay productive indoors. While we were working, Google India released a report titled ‘What is India search for: Insights for Brands Report’.

Near me’ searches of chemists and Kirana stores see a huge rise

Since the closing of malls and big stores, Indian markets have been pushing consumers to look for chemists and kirana stores around their nearby locations. We got to see that these, “near me” searches have seen a massive uptick since March 2020. Queries like “pharmacy near me” (+65%), “grocery delivery near me” (+590%), “ration dukaan” (+340%), and “vet doctor near me” (+69%) have become increasingly common.

The BEST Searches is still working

What we found in this interesting study is that the consumers are looking for “the best” searches of their products and looking for the business who can help them find it. These “Best” searches, which have consistently seen high growth in India, and we see a sharp rise despite the current scenario. While 2019 we definitely got to see saw a significant jump in queries like “best headset” (+160%), “best/top 2W insurance” (+130%), and “best mattress” (+170%), “best” searches in 2020 have adjusted to the idea of limited mobility. The searches include such as “best movies” (+35%) on YouTube and “Best trading platforms” (+45%).

New Skills and Decision behavior

Since the majority of Indians are working from home, so in their free time, they are coming online to enrich their knowledge base, enhance their skill levels, and looking for validation for their purchasing decisions. Consumers are strongly searching responses to questions like “gym at home” (+95%), “5-minute recipes” (+65%) as well as searches related to advanced skill sets like “machine learning” (5X) and “data science” (5X). With a majority of users being in lockdown situations, there has also been high growth in queries like “learn online” (+85%), “teach online” (+148%), and “at-home learning” (78%).

Search For Immunity boosters rise up to more than 500%

Indians and their queries regarding the health category have recently pivoted toward “immunity” (+550%). Searches related vitamin C, which has been growing by 40% in 2019, and now in 2020, they have surged by over 190% in recent weeks, as having queries for herbs with medicinal properties like (Giloy as they have increased at (+380%) and Ayurvedic home remedies like Kadha at (+90%).

Personalized Searches

Despite the unusual scenarios, consumers of India are still looking to project that they want multi-moment brands who can understand their likes, dislikes, and interests based on their online footprints. In fact, three out of every five consumers are seeking personalized information from brands by searching for queries like “how to homeschool kids” and “how to WFH”. Well, in the case of custom goods that seem to have seen a slight dip, we can conclude that personalization is clearly here to stay.

Bills pay from Home have a huge jump

With the social distance lifestyle becoming the new norm, cash transactions have been stopped for the majority of the time. Searches like “How to pay electric bill online” (+200%) are seeing an uprise

Searches On-Demand and more

The Young or Young Adult Indians are still increasingly seeking to move toward a hassle-free and convenient lifestyle with the help of on-demand services. Their simple logic, if we have to say “If I can get a cab, pizza, or any food on demand, then I can have almost everything else?” This new development is evidenced by the growth in searches for “consult doctor online” (+80%), and “free video dating” (+80%). Video has been the core element of on-demand gratification such as Netflix, Disney+Hotstar, Amazon prime, and many others.

Source: Google Trends