new delhi gen zs and young millennials may still be dominant users of digital apps and websites but others are fast catching up at least when it comes to online shopping consumers aged 35 years and beyond are emerging as new shoppers on online platforms according to a study conducted by boston consulting group bcg and matrix partners india they comprised about 67 of 3040 million new online shoppers added in 2021 much of these new shoppers were led by women in nonmetros and small towns who have for long been starved of brands but do not necessarily lack in terms of spending potential the pandemic has enabled digital usage to become mainstream and people continue to hold onto that behaviour in 2022 about 150 million of 270 millionodd online shoppers came from the age group of 35 years and above earlier online companies had to use discounts and other marketing ploys to get more customers today that is not the case services like online food delivery have become ubiquitous what were earlier perceived as push products have now gone mass tarun davda md at matrix partners india told toi these new shoppers who have not been traditionally digital savvy look for easy ways to navigate online platforms for instance they prefer buying from local shops or would want to interact with sellers before purchasing a product this is where new business models will emerge said analysts from enabling voice and video assistance adding regional languages onboarding small and medium sellers to localise product offerings ecommerce companies like flipkart amazon meesho are collectively doing enough to cater to this segment meesho said nearly 80 of all its orders last year came from tier2 cities and beyond recently phonepe launched its local commerce app on the ondc network which will allow consumers to shop from local neighbourhood stores ondc creates great opportunities from a business model perspective for brands buyers and seller apps said parul bajaj md and partner at bcgstartup founders surveyed in the study expect small towns and rural areas to contribute over 50 of revenues in next three years new to ecommerce customers are beginning their journey with categories such as personal care and wellness home and kitchen among others since meesho added regional languages to its platform gujarati marathi and kannada are witnessing the fastest growth in terms of adoption among new to ecommerce customers said utkrishta kumar cxo business at meesho