Similarly, for personal care, fresh food and packaged food categories, 44 per cent, 31 per cent and 34 per cent Indian respondents respectively led the table showing a maximum preference for online buying in comparison to the buyers in the said countries. For health supplements, 47 per cent of Indonesians expect to choose e-commerce routes followed by 43 per cent of respondents from India.

In addition, about 50 per cent of consumers expect to increase their e-commerce spend in the coming month even for traditionally offline categories like vitamins, supplements, personal care products, cosmetics and non-prescription medicines. Spending on health and hygiene is expected to increase by more than 40 per cent over the next six months.

Nimisha Jain, managing director and partner at BCG, says that these unprecedented shifts in consumer attitudes and behaviours will not be temporary. “Many will last longer and become more defining traits. Over 80 per cent of consumers will continue to practice social distancing and are bringing the outside inside, over 40 per cent are dialing up on health and wellness spends, e-commerce adoption has already advanced by two to three years, to name a few,” she added.

However, the report also found that 43 per cent respondents said that they plan to reduce the overall spend in the next six months. And more than half of them added that they will still buy a cheaper brand or a variant, while 54 per cent of respondents expect overall household income to reduce in the next six months.

Jain noted that only one out of six companies would come out stronger once this crisis is over, adding that players who are effectively capable of reinventing their value propositions, go-to-market plans and business models would be the ones that set themselves apart from the pack.

Mohapatra throws light on areas that require clarity. “So, the e-commerce policy firstly should lay down a very clear policy on what is data; what kind of data the e-commerce companies can use; how the citizens’ right of privacy can be protected; how the e-commerce data is being leveraged for other purposes, other commercial benefits accrue to the e-commerce data holder; how citizens like you and me can have access to those benefits.

“Secondly, there are a lot of counterfeit and inferior products and violation of various safety standards. How can these be taken care of, how can consumer rights be protected... We have now finalised a (draft) e-commerce policy; very soon, we will put it in the public domain,” he added.

E-commerce players will be hoping that this time around, the draft will take the shape of a final policy.