e-commerce trends in nepal
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A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 1
A Report on e-commerce Trends in Nepal
Researched and Compiled by Regional Head of Kaymu Asian SEO Team: Haris Khan
Copywriter: Sameer Akbar Malik
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 2
Contents A Report on e-commerce Trends in Bangladesh ................................................................................................................. 1
1 – Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 - Quick Facts about Bangladesh ............................................................................................................... 4
1.2 - … and about Kaymu Global .................................................................................................................... 5
2 - Demographics ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 – Age groups .................................................................................................................................................... 5
2.2 - Gender ........................................................................................................................................................... 6
2.3 - Geographic Trends ......................................................................................................................................... 7
3 - User Interests ....................................................................................................................................................... 8
3.1 – Affinity .......................................................................................................................................................... 8
3.2 – In-Market Segment ....................................................................................................................................... 9
4 - User Interests ....................................................................................................................................................... 9
4.1 – New vs Return Traffic .................................................................................................................................... 9
4.2 – Engagement ................................................................................................................................................ 10
4.3 – Frequency & Recency ................................................................................................................................. 11
4.4 – Operating System ....................................................................................................................................... 12
4.5 – Web Browser .............................................................................................................................................. 14
4.6 – Devices ........................................................................................................................................................ 16
4.7 – Mobile Device ............................................................................................................................................. 18
5 - Acquisition .......................................................................................................................................................... 20
5.1 – Traffic Sources & Segments ........................................................................................................................ 20
5.2 – Brand Loyalty VS Non-Brand Traffic ............................................................................................................ 21
5.3 – Hours of Day ............................................................................................................................................... 22
5.4 – Peak Days & Peak E-commerce Conversion Days ....................................................................................... 22
5.5 – Quarterly E-commerce Trends .................................................................................................................... 23
5.6 – Occasional & Seasonal Impact on E-commerce Transactions..................................................................... 24
5.7 – Payment Methods ...................................................................................................................................... 26
5.8 – Query Trends .............................................................................................................................................. 26
5.9 – Search Queries Related to ‘Shopping’ ........................................................................................................ 27
5.10 – Search Queries Related to ‘Mobiles’ ......................................................................................................... 28
5.11 – Search Queries Related to ‘Laptop’ .......................................................................................................... 29
5.12 – Search Queries Related to ‘Shoes’ ............................................................................................................ 29
5.13 – Search Queries Related to ‘Samsung’ ....................................................................................................... 30
5.14 – Search Query Trends ................................................................................................................................. 30
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 3
5.15 – Shopping Cart Abandonment ................................................................................................................... 32
6 - Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................... 33
6.1 – Growth ........................................................................................................................................................ 33
6.2 – E-commerce Predictions for the Coming Era .............................................................................................. 34
6.3 – Glossary....................................................................................................................................................... 34
6.4 – E-commerce Predictions for the Coming Era .............................................................................................. 34
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 4
1 – Introduction
Kaymu welcomes you to the comprehensive report on modern day e-commerce trends1 in Nepal. What the future
of e-commerce holds in the forthcoming era can be defined by the connected consumers, however Kaymu has
created this report based on the geo-targeted e-commerce trends across Nepal by carrying out an in-depth analysis
of the trends demonstrated by the e-commerce community in Nepal during the recent couple of years. This report
intends to educate e-commerce entrepreneurs as well as those who are, in any other way, associated with this
rapidly developing industry in the region.
The e-commerce industry is profoundly impacted by the rise of social networks and the proliferation of mobile
devices at an enormously large scale. Since mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have made a vast
number of choices and plenty of information available at fingertips, consumers are leaving behind traces and records
of their behaviors, preferences and interests; and this report aims to capture and analyze all these trends.
As modern e-commerce strategies across the globe are a result of the online activity of consumers and the resulting
data record, it is a good idea for current as well as future e-commerce entrepreneurs to study this report and
consequently craft effectual strategies for their online businesses. The market dynamics mentioned in the report are
at the epicenter of key developments that we believe, define the e-commerce trends for the modern day and provide
a sound basis for future forecasting.
Kaymu, the largest online marketplace of Nepal aims on providing a single platform to buyers and sellers across the
globe to buy/sell products with the ease of a few mouse-clicks. Kaymu has multiple e-commerce domains spread
across many countries worldwide. Backed by the world's largest Internet incubator, Rocket Internet, this online
marketplace has been successful in generating substantial amount of traffic on all its domains worldwide.
1.1 - Quick Facts about Bangladesh
Population: 31,551,305 (2015)
Internet Users:
o 5,500,000 (2015)
o 4,121,268 (2013)
Average Internet Penetration Rate
o 17.4% (2015)
o 13.1% (2013 data) vs 76.15% in the European Union.
Internet users per 100 people: 15.4 (2014)
Facebook Users: 5,500,000 (2015)
o Male: 3,600,000
o Female: 1,900,000
Facebook penetration rate: 17.4%
Facebook Penetration Rate (/Internet Penetration): 100%
Kaymu Fans: 230,000
Percentage of Kaymu Fans (/Facebook Users): 4.18%
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 5
1.2 - … and about Kaymu Global
Globally, Kaymu covers more than 1 billion people in total, and 250 million Internet users
Out of the above mentioned 250 million internet users, approximately 68.39% have a Facebook account.
An approximate of 2.3% of total Facebook users in the countries with Kaymu’s presence have liked Kaymu
on Facebook.
Total Facebook Users in Asia: 104,000,000 people
Total users from Asia with interest in Kaymu: 2,400,000 people
Average Internet penetration rate is 29.14% (vs 76.15% in European Union)
2 - Demographics
2.1 – Age groups
As per Kaymu’s research and critical analysis of collected facts, it can be observed that younger population - between
18-34 years - is most actively involved in e-commerce transactions, as compared to the rest of population. One of
the reasons for this conclusion is the fact that people above the age of 35 are less inclined towards technology and
its usage, whereas youth between 18-34 years are at the forefront of the technological revolution and are more
open towards online shopping.
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
E-commerce Activity in Nepal - Segmented by Age Groups
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 6
2.2 - Gender
Nepal’s overall e-commerce activity in terms of gender reveals the fact that males account for 72% as compared to
28% females. However, the average ecommerce conversion rate for both genders remains nearly the same.
E-commerce Conversion Rate: The percentage of website visitors that actually buy online. For example, if hundred
visitors landed on a website and only two of them purchased the product, the e-Commerce conversion rate would
be 2%.
Female: 28%
Male: 72%
Percentage of Male Vs Female eCommerce Activity
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 7
2.3 - Geographic Trends
Kathmandu, being the capital city and the largest municipality of Nepal, prevails the list of yearly e-commerce
activity in the country with 53%, closely followed by sub-metropolitan municipality and third largest city of Nepal i.e.
Biratnagar with 23%. Pokhara, the sub-metropolitan municipality and the second largest city of Nepal stands at third
place with 8% of the country’s total e-commerce activity each year. The city of Bharatpur, located in Chitwan Valley
with 4% of the country's total e-commerce activity, remains the fourth city of Nepal with highest inclination towards
e-commerce.
E-commerce transactions: An e-commerce transaction is completed when a user adds a product to the cart and then
confirms the order.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Kathmandu Biratnagar Pokhara Bharatpur
Geo-targeted e-commerce Trends in Nepal
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 8
3 - User Interests
3.1 – Affinity
By classifying modern day e-commerce trends in Nepal with respect to users’ lifestyle, Kaymu observed that
technophiles lead the list with 8% of the total e-commerce activity in the country, followed by movie lovers at 7%,
TV lovers at 6%, shutterbugs at 5%, News Junkies & Avid Readers at 4.5%, World Music Fans at 4%, Entertainment
& Celebrity News Junkies with 3.5%, Mobile Enthusiasts at 3%, Travel Buffs at 2.5% and Music Lovers with 2% share
of the total e-commerce activity across Nepal.
There are several other classifications that consist of less than 2% share of the shopping profile. The following graph
shows more than 50% of the major affinity categories for e-commerce in Nepal.
Technophiles: People who are enthusiastic about new technology.
Shutterbugs: Enthusiastic photographers, who love to take and upload pictures. Work around photography and may
also work as professional photographers.
Movie Lovers: People who love to watch movies on a regular basis, are up-to-date on upcoming movies and have
in-depth knowledge about movie celebrities.
Music Lovers: People interested in a specific type of music genre (for example: rock, trance, classical, or pop),
watching movies, are up-to-date with music industry news and events.
TV Lovers: People who follow television dramas and shows on a regular basis.
0.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
6.0%
7.0%
8.0%
9.0%
E-commerce Trends in Nepal with Respect to Affinity
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 9
3.2 – In-Market Segment
E-commerce trends across Nepal pertaining to interests have remained much inclined towards Employment Queries
lately. The facts show that online customers in Nepal are mostly interested in searching about employment
opportunities, followed by Mobile Phones, Used Motor Vehicles, Post-Secondary Education, Apparel & Accessories,
Computer Accessories & Components, Laptops & Notebooks, New Motorcycles, Dating Services and last but not the
least, Used Motorcycles.
4 - User Interests
4.1 – New vs Return Traffic
After conducting analysis of Nepal’s e-commerce trends with respect to user behavior, it has to be concluded that
the conversion rate of returning visitors is twice that of the first time visitors.
Moreover, the average session duration for new visitors is 5 minutes, whereas for the returning visitors, it is 8
minutes. There are several reasons for high session time7 and better conversion rate for return visitors. A few
important reasons are:
Brand loyalty - Regular buyers: Returning visitors are brand loyal, spend more time browsing products, and
are keen towards making a purchase as compared to the new visitors.
In some cases, return customers make up their minds during or after the first visit and the purchase process
is carried out in the second or third visit, resulting in a higher conversion rate for return visitors.
Serious buyers are found frequently comparing products and browsing websites for better options & price.
The buying process takes a bit more time.
0.00%
1.00%
2.00%
3.00%
4.00%
5.00%
6.00%
7.00%
8.00%
E-commerce Trends in Nepal with Respect to Market Segment
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 10
Out of the total e-commerce visits in a year, 54% are estimated to be new visitors, whereas the remaining 46% are
returning visitors. One of the reasons for considerably good percentage of returning visitors is the low number of e-
commerce competitors in Nepal. Visitors have limited options available for online shopping stores.
User Type Sessions Average session duration E-commerce conversion rate
New visitor 54% 00:05:00 0.80% - 1.20%
Returning visitor 46% 00:08:00 2.00% - 2.40%
New vs returning visitors segmentation with session duration and conversion rate
New visitors: First time visitors, tracked using browser cookies.
Returning visitors: Users who were visiting the website again using the same device, tracked using browser cookies.
Session Time: The time a visitor spends on a certain website.
Sessions: Sessions can be defined as visits (irrespective of page views). Number of times users visited websites. For
example:
If a user visited a website three times, then it would be counted as three sessions.
If five users visited a website seven times, it will be counted as seven sessions.
Also, if a person visit five pages of a website, it would be considered one session with five pageviews
4.2 – Engagement
Visitors who spend 0 to 10 seconds on e-commerce websites account for the highest percentage. As per findings,
reasons for spending less than 10 seconds for the majority percentage of the traffic are:
Visitors were interested in knowing the product price.
Visitors were not interested in product, after clicking advertisement link.
High bounce rate of product pages, where users are not given much options and choices to browse, because
a product page is normally specific to information about one product. As compared to a category page,
where relevant products are listed and user may click the product of interest.
Most of the e-commerce transactions fall under 61-600 seconds sessions.
Session Duration Session Page Views
0-10 seconds 44% 5%
11-30 seconds 4% 1%
31-60 seconds 5% 2%
61-180 seconds 12% 6%
181-600 seconds 16% 18%
601-1800 seconds 14% 32%
1801+ seconds 4% 36%
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 11
The data is read as: (example - first row): 44% of the sessions on e-commerce websites in Nepal stay between 0 to 10
seconds consisting 5% of total pageviews
Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors at a particular website who navigated away from the site after viewing only
one page.
4.3 – Frequency & Recency
With regards to frequency, all sessions with count one are new visitors on e-commerce websites, however those
with count equal to or greater than 2 are repeat visitors. Kaymu e-commerce survey10 indicates that:
Three to five time visitors are mostly brand loyal to the specific website and repeatedly visiting website
with considerably good percentage of page views.
Session count between 6 and 8 are interested in a specific product and are repeatedly visiting same product
on a website.
Count of Sessions Sessions Page Views
1-2 61% 51%
3-5 17% 19%
6-8 7% 8%
9-14 6% 8%
15-25 4% 6%
26-50 2% 4%
51-100 1% 2%
101-200 0.7% 1%
201+ 1% 0.8%
The data is read as: (example - first row): 61% of the sessions on e-commerce websites in Nepal have one to two visits,
and consist of 51% of total pageviews.
Kaymu e-commerce survey: A survey form having questions for online buyers and sellers.
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 12
4.4 – Operating System
Traffic depending on the Operating System used
Average duration (minutes) of a Session depending on the Operating System used
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 13
Conversion rate (%) depending on the Operating System used
When it comes to operating systems used for browsing e-commerce websites in Nepal, Microsoft Windows leads
the list and accounts for 61% of the total sessions, the average time duration remains 00:05:00 and the e-commerce
conversion rate is approx. 2%. Microsoft Windows is closely followed by the Android operating system with 24%
sessions, 00:03:00 average session duration and 0.9% e-commerce conversion rate The rest of e-commerce traffic
in Nepal comes from other operating systems including iOS, Macintosh, Linux, Windows Phone, BlackBerry,
Samsung/Tizen & Nokia OS.
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 14
4.5 – Web Browser
Traffic depending on the Web Browser used
Average duration (minutes) of a Session depending on the Web Browser used
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 15
Conversion rate (%) depending on the Web Browser used
With rapid evolution of technology and the advent of new and advanced software, people make use of different
internet browsers to surf the World Wide Web. Our research reveals that Google Chrome is the most popular
internet browser in Nepal with 56% of the total e-commerce visitors using this software, followed by Mozilla Firefox
at second place with 16% of total e-commerce visitors in Nepal. The rest of the 28% e-commerce traffic in Nepal
comes via Opera Mini, Safari, Android Browser, Internet Explorer, Safari (in-app), Opera, UC Browser and Mozilla
Compatible Agent respectively. Moreover, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer and Opera lead the
list of the average session duration of e-commerce users, respectively.
Safari (inn-app): When a page is viewed using Mobile Safari within another app. For example, if you use the facebook
iOS app, when you click on a shared blog post, it will open the site, without passing over to the Mobile Safari app.
This visit would then show as "Safari (in app)".
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 16
4.6 – Devices
Traffic depending on the Device used
Average duration (minutes) of a Session depending on the Web Browser used
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 17
Conversion rate (%) depending on the Device used
As a result of the research conducted by Kaymu with regards to devices used for browsing e-commerce websites
each year, personal computers such as desktops and laptops lead the list with 65% of total annual traffic followed
by mobiles and tablets with 30% and 5% respectively.
E-commerce conversion statistics with respect to devices prove that visitors prefer using mobile devices and tablets
to gather product information, conduct research about the product specs and compare prices, whereas they find it
more convenient to use desktop personal computers and laptops to finally make an online purchase.
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 18
4.7 – Mobile Device
Traffic depending on the Mobile Device used
Average duration (minutes) of a Session depending on the Mobile Device used
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 19
Conversion rate (%) depending on the Mobile Device used
Further analyzing mobile traffic (which is 35% of overall e-commerce traffic in Nepal) reveals that Apple iPhones
remain the most used mobile devices with 16% of the total sessions followed by Apple iPads with 9% sessions and
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 with 4% sessions. Other phone models by Samsung and Micromax were also used
throughout the year in e-commerce sessions and conversions. Even though Android phones are more common and
affordable yet Apple iOS devices are leading the mobile e-commerce market in Nepal.
Furthermore it is imperative to note that e-commerce traffic from mobile devices in Nepal is expected to increase
due to the recent launch of 3G and 4G services in the country.
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 20
5 - Acquisition
5.1 – Traffic Sources & Segments
Free channels are more conversion oriented as compared to the paid ones because unpaid visitors have somehow
themselves initiated the buying process, or showed interest to know more about the product(s). The interest is
initiated by subscribing to the newsletters, establishing a connection with the website's social pages, or specifically
searching for a product on search engines. Search engines publish paid advertisements on search engine result pages
(SERPs), but, organic results are considered more trustworthy and authentic as compared to the paid ads; this, in
turn, results in better conversion rate for organic traffic as compared to the paid search ads.
Approximation of e-commerce traffic sources
Google Paid: Includes Google paid advertising on search engines (also called Search Engine Marketing -
SEM) and advertising on websites (also called Google Display Network - GDN)
Facebook Paid: Facebook is the most popular social advertising channel in Nepal, and incorporates two
types of advertisements: one under news feed, and other on the right-hand side column.
Other Paid Channels: Other paid channels include Gmail Sponsored Promotion (also called GSP) and the
advanced Remarketing / Retargeting traffic.
Organic: Visitors that landed on e-commerce websites after searching on search engines, for example:
Google, Yahoo, Bing etc.
Direct: Visitors who opened the e-commerce websites by typing the web address on the browser.
Referral: Visitors who landed on e-commerce portals by clicking on the website links (non-paid link). For
example: links on blog comments, links in articles, reference links etc.
Google Paid: 27%
Facebook Paid: 26%
Other Paid Channels: 1%
Organic: 18%
Direct: 9.50%
Referral: 9%
Newsletter: 4%
Social Media: 5% Other: 0.50%
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 21
Social Media: Visitors from social portals such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest etc. (non-
paid link).
Others: Traffic from unidentified sources and custom sources & mediums.
Tip: E-commerce professionals looking to increase the overall conversion rate should focus more on free traffic
generating channels. Specifically, search engine optimization (SEO), increasing newsletter subscriber base and social
media marketing.
Sessions: Number of times users visited websites. For example: If a user visited a website three times, then it would
be counted as three sessions. If five users visited a website seven times, it will be counted as seven sessions.
5.2 – Brand Loyalty VS Non-Brand Traffic
As per findings of Kaymu Nepal, less than 9% of the total online customers would prefer to buy from the website
they have previously ordered from (until and unless they had some issue with product quality or delivery). The
remaining 91% would prefer to conduct online research and make price comparisons, look for packaged deals and
special promotions, before they could finally make a decision.
Brand Loyal Customers: 9%
Promiscuous Customers: 91%
Brand loyal VS Promiscuous Customers
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 22
5.3 – Hours of Day
Majority of Nepalese people usually visit e-commerce websites between 11:00 AM to 04:00 PM. According to the
research, almost half of the total e-commerce sessions in Nepal are recorded at timings between these six hours.
Apart from the high traffic, this peak time also has the maximum e-commerce transactions. The time during
afternoon and evening has maximum traffic and orders as there is no considerable fluctuation in ecommerce
conversion rate through the day.
5.4 – Peak Days & Peak E-commerce Conversion Days
Analyzing the daily change in web traffic for Nepal reveals that there is a slight fluctuation in traffic during the week
except for Fridays, which is the end of a workweek in the Nepal.
Since e-commerce “Peak days” traffic data does not define the top conversion days, Kaymu conducted a separate
analysis to conclude that Tuesday has best conversion rate and Friday with lowest.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Percentage of Traffic During Hour of Day
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 23
5.5 – Quarterly E-commerce Trends
Research indicates that there is a significant impact of seasons on the types of products sold. The sales of fashion
products greatly decline during the transition of seasons. For instance, the sale of T-Shirts hiked at second place in
the second quarter because of the summer season. Similarly upon winter’s arrival, in the fourth and first quarters,
the sales of Blazers & Jackets remained significantly high.
Quarter Top Selling Items Comment
Q1
Footwear Watches Clothing – Blazers & Jackets Electronics Mobile Accessories
'Footwear' remained the top selling products in the first quarter followed by 'watches', 'blazers & jackets', 'electronics' and 'mobile accessories'.
Q2
Footwear Clothing - T-shirts Watches Electronics Mobile Accessories
During the second quarter of the year, footwear continued to prevail the list of top selling products followed by 'T-shirts' owing to arrival of the summer season.
Q3
Watches Clothing - Shorts & Tops Mobiles & Accessories Footwear
'Watches' peaked the list of top selling products in the third quarter across Nepal followed by 'shorts & tops', 'mobiles & accessories' and 'footwear'
Q4 Watches Footwear
Just like Quarter 3, 'watches' continued to lead the list of top
-12
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
8
Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Change in Peak Traffic & Conversion Days
Peak Traffic Days Peak Conversion Days
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 24
Clothing - Blazers & Jackets Electronics Mobile Accessories
selling products in Nepal during the fourth quarter followed by 'footwear', 'blazers & jackets', 'electronics' and 'mobile accessories' respectively.
5.6 – Occasional & Seasonal Impact on E-co mmerce Transactions
Similar to seasonal impact on e-commerce transactions around the world, special occasions also have significant
impact on sales. The special occasion in Nepal such as Raksha Bandhan and Valentine's Day provide great
opportunities to the e-commerce entrepreneurs across Nepal for generating adequate profits. It has been observed
that the sales of gift items greatly increase during the month of February each year on account of Valentine's Day.
The sales of football related products started to grow significantly by the end of second quarter of 2014, owing to
the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2014. Moreover, during cricket world cup 2015, the sales of cricket bats, balls, cricket
kits and cricket accessories also increased notably.
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 25
Searches related to Dashain, the longest and most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar, rise in the
months of September and October. Another noticeable search trend is of the New Year that hikes in the month of
December each year however the same repeats in the month of April, owing to the beginning of Nepali New Year.
Baishak, the month marking the beginning of the Nepali calendar, coincides with mid-April each year. Hence,
searches relating to New Year once again rises in the month of April.
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 26
5.7 – Payment Methods
The top payment methods in Nepal are:
Cash on Delivery: is the most commonly used payment method in Nepal. As per estimates, around 85% of
e-commerce users in Nepal prefer cash on delivery (COD) payment model.
Digital Payment Methods: Digital payment methods can be conveniently integrated with e-commerce
websites for web-based payments. As per Kaymu survey, 10% of e-commerce users in Nepal use digital
payment methods for making online purchases. The popular digital payment gateways in Nepal include iPay,
eSewa, HelloPAISA.
Bank / Wire Transfer: Very few e-commerce businesses operate on the system of delivering the product
upon receiving the amount through a wire/bank transfer. It has been observed that only 2% of the total e-
commerce users in Nepal opt for Bank/Wire Transfer as a mode of payment.
Muncha Money Transfer / iPay: Some e-commerce websites also prefer local payment model of Muncha
for transferring small amounts. Approximately 2% of the e-commerce users in Nepal use this payment
method.
Credit Card: Most of the e-commerce websites in Nepal have merchant accounts integrated on portals to
facilitate credit card transactions. However, almost all such e-commerce websites also offer other payment
methods and cater to the cash on delivery system. As per research, only 1% of total e-commerce users in
Nepal make use of their credit/debit cards to make online payments.
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 27
5.8 – Query Trends
According to Google Trends for the year 2013, 2014 and 2015, Mobiles Phones and Samsung Devices remain much
more in demand across Nepal compared to laptops, shoes and all other products available for online shopping.
5.9 – Search Queries Related to ‘Shopping’
Top searches and rising searches related to shopping across Nepal, from 2013 to 2015.
Breakout: More than 5000% increment in search queries.
Top trending (rising) 'Shopping' related keywords in Nepal from 2013 to 2015 include 'online shopping', 'shopping
Nepal', 'online shopping in Nepal' and 'online shopping Kathmandu' leading the list of overall search queries.
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 28
5.10 – Search Queries Related to ‘Mobile Phones’
'Mobile' related top search queries in Nepal, from 2013 to 2015 include 'samsung', 'samsung mobile', 'nokia mobile',
'mobile phone' and 'samsung mobile price' at the top of list. 'Samsung mobile price' being one of the top searched
keywords makes it evident that a large number of consumers visited online shopping stores and marketplaces to
know about latest Samsung mobile phone models hitting the market and to know their prices. The rising keywords
related to mobile phones in Nepal include 'lava mobile', 'colors mobile', 'colors' and 'micromax mobile' at the top of
list.
Mobile brand related top search queries in Nepal include 'samsung mobile', 'samsung', 'samsung mobile price',
'samsung mobile nepal' and 'samsung Nepal' at the top of list. The mobile brand related search query trend makes
it quite clear that the people of Nepal are more inclined towards Samsung mobiles as compared to any other brands.
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 29
5.11 – Search Queries Related to ‘Laptop’
Laptops are among the top searched electronics products in Nepal after mobile phones. The top search queries
relating to laptops in Nepal include 'laptop price', 'laptop nepal', 'dell laptop', 'dell' and 'laptop in nepal'. The rising
searches regarding laptops in Nepal include 'laptop price nepal', 'dell i5 laptop', 'asus laptop', 'lenovo laptop', 'dell
laptop price' and many more.
5.12 – Search Queries Related to ‘Shoes’
Shoes are not just among the top searched items in Nepal, but are also among the top selling online products. The
top searches with regards to shoes include 'shoes in nepal', 'nike', 'nike shoes', 'shoes for men', 'adidas shoes' and
'vans shoes'.
The top trending (rising) keywords with regards to shoes in Nepal include 'shoes in nepal', 'nike', 'nike shoes', 'new
shoes', 'vans', 'shoes for men' and many more.
A REPORT ON E-COMMERCE TRENDS IN NEPAL 30
5.13 – Search Queries Related to ‘Samsung’
Samsung remains the leading mobile phone brand in Nepal. As mentioned above, all the top mobile-brand related
queries in Nepal have Samsung mobiles at the top of list. The top searches for Samung in Nepal include 'samsung
galaxy', 'samsung nepal', 'samsung mobile', 'samsung grand' and 'samsung duos'.
The top trending keywords for Samsung in Nepal include 'samsung galaxy grand', 'samsung grand' and 'samsung s5'
as the breakout keywords followed by 'samsung s4', 'galaxy s4', 'samsung galaxy s4' and 'samsung core' among the
rising keywords.
5.14 – Search Query Trends
The following graph shows overall search trends for Nepal on Google.com.np. A closer look on the trend shows more
than double volume as compared to the start of 2013, which means, at-least 100% growth in search engine searches
across Nepal.
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As per Google Transparency Report, fraction of worldwide traffic for Google search in Nepal is normalized roughly
between 16 and 35.
How it's calculated: The graphs give a representation of the ratio of Nepal's search request rate to the worldwide
request rate between 2013 to 2015. Google divides search requests from Nepal by the total worldwide traffic, giving
a number between 0 and 1. Then, it multiplies all numbers by a constant, which normalizes but does not change the
shape of the graphs.
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5.15 – Shopping Cart Abandonment
According to the in-depth e-commerce analysis conducted by Kaymu Nepal, it can be concluded that the average
conversion rate from all traffic channels lays within 0.80% to 2.40% (reference: New vs Return Traffic). This
conversion rate is established when the customers add products to the cart and confirm the order.
However, there are also some online visitors who add products to the cart but do not actually confirm it. The visitors,
who do not confirm the order after adding products to the cart, account for about 51% of the converting traffic.
These visitors spend time on e-commerce websites and add products to the cart but log out and abandon their
shopping carts. On the other hand, 49% of the remaining converting visitors reach the final phase of payment and
complete the purchase procedure.
Orders Confirmed: 49%
Orders Non-confirmed: 51%
Estimated Percentage of Confirmed & Non-confirmed Orders
Order confirmed Order non-confirmed
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6 - Conclusion
6.1 – Growth
Nepali e-Commerce market is expected to achieve more than 80% growth in e-commerce transactions in the near
future. This consensus is based on 10% exponential growth in e-commerce transactions for each passing quarter.
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6.2 – E-commerce Predictions for the Coming Era
Larger screen phones signify mobile traffic that converts. The coming era might be the one for mobile
phones as users with large screen mobiles might prefer to carry out transactions on mobile devices instead
of desktops and laptops.
Re-targeting: Audience building is the new list building. E-commerce platforms using retargeting /
remarketing in their online marketing strategies will grow much faster.
Email marketing is here to stay on smaller screens, with more people preferring mobile devices. Newsletter
campaigns would look attractive on mobiles as well as on larger screens.
Social platforms and mobile apps will offer enhanced user experience and convenience for online shoppers.
Social portals such as Facebook and Twitter are already working on facilitating secure e-commerce
transactions.
6.3 – Glossary
1. E-commerce Trends: E-commerce is defined as “purchases conducted electronically on the Internet.”
However, this report refer “E-commerce Trends” as purchases being done with assistance to any kind of
online portal (for example: social media portals, classified ads websites, ecommerce websites). All
transactions, assisted or 100% online are referred as e-commerce transactions.
2. E-commerce Conversion Rate: What percentage of website visitors buy online. For example, if 100 visitors
landed on a website and only two of them purchased the product, the eCommerce conversion rate would
be 2%.
3. E-commerce Transactions: An e-commerce transaction is completed when a user added product to cart
and then confirmed the order.
4. Technophiles: A person who is enthusiastic about new technology.
5. Shutterbugs: An enthusiastic photographer.
6. Returning Visitors: Users who were visiting the website again using the same device, tracked using browser
cookies.
7. New Visitors: First time visitors, tracked using browser cookies.
8. Session Time: Time a visitor spends on a certain website.
9. Sessions: Number of times users visited websites. For example: If a user visited a website three times, then
it would be counted as three sessions. If five users visited a website seven times, it will be counted as seven
sessions.
10. Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors at a particular website who navigated away from the site after
viewing only one page.
11. Kaymu E-commerce Survey: A survey form having questions for online buyers and sellers.
12. Breakout: More than 5000% increment in search queries.
13. In-Market Segments identifies users in terms of their product-purchase interests.
14. Affinity Categories identifies users in terms of lifestyle; for example, Technophiles, Sports Fans, and Cooking
Enthusiasts. These categories are defined to be similar to TV audiences.
6.4 – E-commerce Predictions for the Coming Era
Kaymu Survey
Marketing Reports
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Google Analytics
Google Transparency Report
Google Webmaster Tools
Google Trends
Google Public Data
Business Intelligence (BI) Data
Data from e-commerce Analysts
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