What is making tier-2 shoppers in India move from product discovery to cart? -- Pulse report

Highlights from the report

Shoppers use their carts to feel a sense of ownership and ease even when they don’t buy.

Discovery starts before need, with casual browsing and social media planting early desire.

Platform loyalty shifts moment to moment, driven by timing, trust, and the best deal.

Introduction

To understand the visible and subtle cues that influence shoppers to add a product from the moment of discovery to their Cart(s), we met regular users of online e-commerce platforms to explore their habits, mindsets, and behaviours around online shopping and especially their cart usage in Tier 2 cities of India.

Who we spoke to

We spoke to 10 people, 5 men and 5 women, from tier 2 cities in India.

‍Age range: 18-45
‍Cities: Tier 2 cities like Lucknow, Vijaywada, Shillong, etc.
Usership: Consumers who shop regularly from online apps/platforms – at least once a month. They are key decision makers of the purchases.

Online shopping is now embraced as a form of Me-time

For many consumers, scrolling through shopping apps has become second nature—part habit, part hobby. From late-night browsing sessions to festive-season splurges, here’s a closer look at how these people are engaging with e-commerce platforms today:

🛒 Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, and Nykaa are the most preferred and trusted platforms. Ajio also had a mention among some users.

🛒 Big sale events like 'Flipkart’s Big Billion' Days are key triggers for high-value purchases, especially for big-ticket items. These platforms are often kept as alternatives to cross-check offers, discounts, and service benefits.

“I do have my favourite shopping apps but main Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra sab dekh leta hoon ek baar. Jahan best offer mile, wahan se order karleta hu agar product same hai toh.”

— Rounak, 18–24 yrs, Lucknow

🛒 Browsing & adding products to cart is a continuous, layered process driven by multiple needs like rediscovering a forgotten item, eyeing a long-awaited product, responding to an urgent need, or preparing for an upcoming requirement.

For many, it’s often a break from the monotony of work and the mindless scroll of social media.
For some, it offers stress relief and the joy of fulfilling desires.
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🛒 Most online shopping decisions happen at night, during ‘me-time,’ when choices are more thought through.

🛒 While many purchases happen out of necessity, most are social media / digital ad influenced as well—like a pant an influencer wore, a unique décor piece from an ad, or an appliance used by a YouTuber.

Cart is the new Wishlist

The Cart has now become a part wish board & a part purchase bag balancing desires & necessities. For most of the people we spoke to, it holds their wishes while for others, it’s strictly where only the ready-to-buy items live. Here's what we found out about how these people are treating their carts:

🛒 It acts as a rough note & a way to manage immediate or future purchases for time-concerned users, especially women managing families and careers 🡪 helps them feel organized.

🛒 Best place to evaluate & compare the important aspects of the products - such as price, product features, return policy, delivery duration, offers, etc.

“Cart mein daalke main track karti hoon... kab price kam hoga ya salary aayegi. Cart mein cheezein rehti hain toh baar baar nazar padti hai. Agar mann badal jaata hai toh nikaal deti hoon.”

— Simran, 25–35 yrs, Ajmer

🛒 Even if there is no purchase happening – it satisfies the desire to possess or plan similar to window shopping but more confirmed products are added

For youngsters, the cart often becomes a parking zone where items wait patiently until payday turns desire into purchase

It’s a space for more commitment therefore only serious desires may their way here

“Wishlist use karta hoon jab budget nahi hota, lekin mann hai… lekin cart mein daalne ka matlab hota hai thoda aur serious hona, cart ki cheezein zyada kharidi jaati hain. Cart me sirf finalised cheezein jaati hain.”

— Ashraf, 18–24 yrs, Aligarh

Some differences between a Cart and a Wishlist

Usage Aspects	Cart	Wishlist
Emotional Role	• A space of intention, planning, and reminder	• A space for distant desires or passive storage
Behavioral Role	• Frequently revisited & updated, gets more visibility and engagement	• Often forgotten & visited rarely • Occasionally used as a mid filter between search result & cart
Utility	• For urgent, recurring or near-future items, typically holds fewer than 10 products	• Used more flirtily for long-term/uncertain aspirations or liked items during browsing, often crossing 100 saved products
Decision Confidence	• Higher — signals readiness or near-readiness	• Lower — still exploring, not urgent

The product journey to cart

TRIGGER

It mostly starts with 2 primary reasons:

Brand push – they start the shopping journey even without a clear need. A sale season or popular sale days like Big Billion Day prompts people to open apps and start looking “just in case.”
Needs & essentials – alongside discounts, there’s also a practical, no-nonsense trigger – whether it’s groceries, personal care, or something hard to find locally, the need itself becomes the reason to open an app.

There are two different buyer journeys based on these two triggers.

DISCOVERY

Buyers reach this stage only when the Trigger is about needs and essentials.

Here, the product discovery could either be peer or family suggested but not any Influencer
Mostly it is a planned purchase
Word of mouth plays the main spot - builds trust
Influencers based suggestions feel forced & unreliable
However, anything interesting noticed in social media ads do get the attention – as it is considered a source of awareness

💡When the brand pushes product (through ads, influencers, discounts, etc.) there is no Discovery as such. Shoppers usually spot specific products casually during a scroll or chat — long before they actually need them.

EVALUATION

Once on the app, majority check if the product feels new, fits their budget and whether to consider purchasing it or not
Aspects like product details (image, color, style, design, features, sizes, options, etc.), brand, return policy, reviews on different sources & ratings, price range becomes the first filter
For big-ticket items, a quick YouTube review is now a common task – helps validate quality, usability and offers reassurance before carting or buying
However, they also check feature based comparison that each ecom app offers
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COMPARISON

Post consideration – an intent to purchase starts building
But immediate consideration/purchase from the first app opened – is a rare case as they jump between platforms to cross-check prices, return policies, and offers — loyalty depends on who gives the best deal.
This leads to active browsing and comparison of products at features level, sellers level and even platform level
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CARTING

After the evaluation & comparison, the product is moved to the cart which results in either of the 3 cases:

Case 1 – the top options are then moved to the cart for last final evaluation & product waits there for some duration
Case 2 – the product is parked in the cart as a priority to purchase when financially ready
Case 3 – the product is instantly bought

Often the cart becomes the space for intent but not commitment for purchase.

But Cart ≠ Purchase

🛒 For most, the cart is more like a temporary storage space. It holds items they’re drawn to but not quite ready to commit to – products can sit there until they are revisited or removed.

🛒 Adding something to the cart is only half the decision – it depends more on whether the timing feels right — it could be payday, a good deal, or just the right mood. Until then, the cart quietly holds the intention to purchase.

🛒 Carting often comforts & satisfies the feeling of shopping, even without spending — a small emotional high, a sense of control or fulfilment. For some, it's enough to imagine the purchase without actually making it. The cart becomes a low-risk way to indulge in a want.

“Cart mein daalne ka kaam toh fatafat se hojata hai… but purchase karne ke liye toh salary ka wait karta hu zyadatar.”

— Ashraf, 18–24 yrs, Aligarh

“Adding to the cart feels like it’s already mine… even if I don’t buy it. And even when I’m just in the mood to browse, I add things to the cart. Doesn’t mean I’m going to buy anything that day.”

— Kundan, 36–45, Muzaffarpur

Buyers want the Cart to transform

How consumers desire the cart to become in future - Cart 2.0, not just for storage, but for strategy:

🛒 A planner & not just a placeholder: a cart that lets users sort their items — not just by product, but by purpose:

“Buy now”
“Maybe next month”
“Birthday gift for mom”

Currently the cart hold all kinds of intentions in a single space. However, giving them the ability to tag or categorize could make the cart more than a dumping ground —a companion to plan and prioritize.

🛒 A sale inducer: a better place to track movement on prices, offers and discounts only on their desired products — this way, it helps them avoid the clutter and noise so that the shopping becomes more focused and instantly actionable.

🛒 A reminder that works on their timelines: many products lie in the cart, waiting for the right time to purchase because most users, especially students and early jobbers, wait for their payday or pocket money day to actually make the purchase – alerts mapped to such moments could make notifications more relevant and timely.

🛒 Smarter stock tracker: keeps purchase intent alive with better stock visibility, instead of a one-time alert when a product is back in stock, what if the cart could gently share an estimated timeline like “coming back in 5 days”? It will help shoppers in planning better, keep their intention active and reduces the chance of them giving up or settling for alternatives somewhere else — especially when it’s a planned purchase.

This study was conducted end-to-end on the Poocho platform—from participant recruitment to interviews and analysis.