SBI Research has found that Indian households that shop online and use digital payment platforms spend 7.5% more per month than those that rely on brick‑and‑mortar stores. Only 45.6% of households leveraged online purchases or payments for at least one item, leaving 54.4% still offline.
The premium rises sharply for services and durable goods, with online users paying 23.4% more on services and 24.5% more on durable goods. These categories collectively account for a sizeable share of digital spend—services 39.68% and durable goods 23.3%.
Income drives the gap. In the bottom 20% consumption quintile, just 25.3% of households use online platforms, compared with 69.5% of the top 20%—a 44.3‑percentage‑point chasm. This disparity widens the digital divide across socioeconomic strata.
Within the online basket, consumables dominate, representing 39.68% of spend. Groceries alone make up 4.29%, whereas fresh produce sits at a meager 1.32% for vegetables and 1% for fruits. Food items overall are only 7.1% of digital purchases.
Clothing leads durable goods online, capturing 19.97% of sales, while footwear trails at 12.05%. Furniture, medical equipment and recreational goods remain niche. But the uneven spread across income groups urges policymakers to craft targeted incentives.