'Indian shoppers look abroad ever more to bag best bargains'

A Buyandship statement said Indian consumers overwhelmingly prefer US brands and goods, with 93 per cent of its shipments to India during the current shopping season coming from the US, while the rest were from the UK.

New Delhi: Indian shoppers increasingly look overseas to bag the best prices and deals on their preferred brands and goods, Hong Kong-based cross-border e-commerce service provider Buyandship said on Tuesday.

Releasing new data on the weeks of the busy ongoing Christmas shopping season, a Buyandship statement said Indian consumers overwhelmingly prefer US brands and goods, with 93 per cent of its shipments to India during the current shopping season coming from the US, while the rest were from the UK.

"Nearly 42 per cent of all purchases were of men's and women's clothing from popular fashion brands. Toys and games available exclusively in overseas markets followed at 11 per cent with books (8 per cent), mobile phones and accessories (6 per cent), and winter sports gear (6 per cent) as the last most popular categories," it said.

"While men from Tier-I cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai made the lion's share of shipments on Buyandship during the season, shoppers from other cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Gurgaon, and Pune also used our parcel forwarding services. Most Indian shoppers were aged 25-34," it added.

With shipping costs being a major concern in India, parcel forwarding services could be of help to those looking to grab deals on offer overseas during the festive season.