As discounts and offers drive Indian consumers’ buying behavior, 76 per cent said they prefer UPI (unified payments interface) as a payment mode, while 68 per cent stated they are keen to try Metaverse for shopping, a study by the fintech company, Fidelity Information Services (FIS), finds.
At 84 per cent, millennials accounted for the highest number among the surveyed age groups to use UPI for online shopping. Also, 60 per cent of men said they are interested in trying dating and virtual events in the Metaverse compared to women at 48 per cent.
The global financial services technology company elicited responses from Indian consumers of different age groups, cities, gender, and salary scales for the survey. The survey shows that Indians were willing to adopt embedded finance to explore various offerings in the Metaverse.
In a press release, FIS explained the concept of embedded finance. The feature offers consumers unique, tailor-made financial services, such as embedded payments, lending, insurance, investing, and the use cases of offerings in the Metaverse by non-financial companies.
Latest Embedded Finance Trends
The study finds that Indians are willing to purchase on apps, browsers, and social media platforms as “physical, digital, and virtual worlds are converging.” Here’re some study findings:
● Seventy-eight per cent of Indians are likely to buy fashion products, while 70 per cent would shop for groceries on social media apps.
● Sixty-three per cent of Indians will buy in-app or in-browser gift vouchers, while 55 per cent said they would buy insurance and investment products in the next 12 months.
● Seventy-six per cent of Indians said they prefer using UPI for checkouts during online shopping.
● Eighty-four per cent of millennials, the highest number among the surveyed age groups, prefer to use UPI when shopping online.
● Additionally, 72 per cent of Indians consider discounts and offers as the major driver of their buying behaviour on social media apps, while 63 per cent perceive convenience.
● Study finds that 92 per cent of Indians have concerns about shopping on social media platforms.
● Also, 56 per cent worry about fraudulent sellers, and 62 per cent worry about fraudulent transactions during in-app purchases.
● Sixty-eight per cent of Indians would like to explore shopping in the Metaverse and 57 per cent of Indians would like to access the Metaverse for banking services in the next 12 months.
In concluding remarks, FIS noted that although Indians reflect a readiness to embrace embedded financial services, brands need to ensure transparency and safety to win customers’ trust.
“Embedded finance has a great potential to transform customer payment experience offered by banks and financial institutions and drive new avenues of growth for partnering merchants,” said Rajsri Rengan, head of development, banking and payments, India and Philippines, FIS.
It added that customers today expect seamless online shopping experiences driven by the quick delivery and return policies, special merchant offers, targeted ads, better internet availability, etc.
