Kirana stores, pharmacy, immunity boosters top Google searches in January-March
2 min read 01 May 2020, 02:34 PM ISTThe Google report showed even in the wake of the covid-19 outbreak, consumers looked for the best of whatever they neededThere has been a massive jump on queries in health category, especially for immunity, with searches going up by 500%
PremiumNEW DELHI: Closure of malls and unavailability of ration delivery prompted consumers to look for pharmacy and kirana stores in their geographical locations with 'near me' searches, leading to a sharp uptick during January-March, showed a Google India report, 'What is India searching for: Insights for Brands'.
Queries such as pharmacy near me, at 58%, grocery delivery near me (550%), ration dukaan (300%), and vet doctor near me (60%) have increasingly become common on Google.
The report gives five key consumer trends that emerged in the first quarter of the calendar year 2020.
One of the key findings highlights that even in the wake of covid-19 outbreak, consumers looked for 'the best' of whatever they needed and business that could help them find it. While 2019 had seen a significant jump in queries such as best headset or best mattresses, this year such queries include best movies on YouTube (35%) and best trading platforms (45%) on Google search.
Consumers are vigorously searching responses to questions such as gym at home (93%), five-minute recipes (56%) as well as searches related to advanced skill sets like 'machine learning' (3X) and 'data science' (3X). With a majority of users homebound, there has also been high growth in queries such as learn and teach online.
There has been a massive jump on queries in health category, especially to boost immunity, with searches going up by 500%. Searches for vitamin C, which grew by 40% in 2019, have surged by over 150% in recent weeks, as have queries for herbs with medicinal properties like “गिलोय" (Giloy) (380%) and Ayurvedic home remedies like “काढ़ा" (Kadha) (90%).
The report also stated that consumers are seeking personalised information from brands by searching for queries like “how to home school kids" and “how to WFH".
With social distant lifestyle becoming the new normal, cash transactions are taking a backseat highlighted Google. Queries like "How to pay electric bill online" (180%) and “बिजली बिल चेक" (electricity bill check) (80%) are seeing an uptick. Growth of searches like overnight mutual funds (411%) and mutual funds to invest now (249%) also shows that many consumers are now relying on online resources to take care of their long- and short-term financial goals.
The fifth consumer trend states that Indians, especially the young, are increasingly seeking to move toward a hassle-free and convenient lifestyle with the help of on-demand services. Therefore, there has been significant growth in searches for consult doctor online (60%), collaborative software (40%), and free video dating (70%). This has led to traditional businesses pivoting to digital to meet people’s evolving needs. A core element of on-demand gratification has been video.
“Some of the trends are likely temporary, but as people are forced to adopt new behaviours, they may begin to see the value of sticking with them even after the pandemic is over. One can clearly see a pattern that demonstrates an evolution in behaviour that was already taking place and is accelerated by the crisis. We hope these insights will help marketers find the answers to what’s important here now and what is here to stay," said Sapna Chadha, senior country marketing director, Google India and Southeast Asia at Google.
