• Customer favorites for festive shopping categories include fashion and accessories, travel, and personal care 
• Of those planning to purchase fashion and accessories this festive season online, a third of the respondents plan to shop from D2C brands 
• D2C Brands focus on expanding selection and enhancing convenience to cater to the customer's demand

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National, 8^th of November 2023: With the onset of the festive season, more than 2 out of 5 consumers across the country have expressed their intent to shop online from Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) merchants, according to a survey conducted by Simpl, India's leading Checkout Network. The surge in consumer interest can be attributed to the growing number of individuals turning to D2C merchants in recent years to meet their evolving needs.

To gauge consumer sentiment during the festive season, Simpl reached out to lakhs of its users across the country and gained rich insights about their festive purchase plans. Overall, consumer optimism remains high, as 41% of the participants said they have strong online shopping plans during this festive season, with 33% of the respondents planning to purchase fashion and accessories, followed by 23% for travel, and 11% for personal care. Food and beverages, as well as consumer electronics, were other popular categories that respondents plan to spend on.

Interestingly, Gen Y (between 1982 and 1994) and Millennials (between 1981 and 1996) constituted a majority of the responses, highlighting their strong preference for festive shopping online, including D2C merchants, to cater to their specific and unique needs.

Commenting on the trend, Khanaz K.A. CXO - D2C Business at Simpl, said, “The festive period is undoubtedly a much-anticipated season for consumers and merchants across India. As an organisation, we are committed to building consumers’ trust in merchants, D2C merchants in particular, and increasing conversions and reducing returns for the latter through our AI-led checkout and post checkout solutions. Considering D2C merchants service the majority of their annual business during this period, we are focused on enabling these merchants to offer a "better than marketplace" experience on their platforms. Over the last six months, we have been able to improve conversions up to 87% and reduce returns to the extent of 66% for hundreds of our merchants across fashion, footwear, travel, home decor and other categories, in a testament to our commitment”.

Interestingly, nearly 70% of D2C merchants are also expecting a 2x-4x increase in sales during the festive season, revealed another survey by Simpl conducted with hundreds of merchants across the country. These merchants are significantly adding manufacturing and warehousing capacities, along with increasing manpower and spending on marketing, the survey stated.

With over 26,000 merchants and millions of customers connected to Simpl's network nationwide, the platform has been actively engaged in empowering the D2C merchant landscape in India by delivering convenience and fostering trust among consumers. Through cutting-edge AI-led offerings such as 1-Tap Checkout, Simpl Checkout, and Checkout Suite which includes Simpl Pay After Delivery (SPAD), among others, the company strives to enhance conversions, reduce cash-on-delivery transactions, and minimise returns for merchants, while ensuring convenience and trust for millions of customers.

About Simpl

‍Simpl is a 1-tap checkout platform, making payments invisible and money intelligent. Simpl is on a mission to empower merchants to build trusted relationships with customers, one transaction at a time. With more than 26,000 available merchants and millions of approved users, pan-India, Simpl envisions creating a frictionless and inclusive digital payments experience for India that empowers and fosters trust between merchants and their customers.

For queries, kindly reach out to media@getsimpl.com

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