Kotak Institutional Equities In Collaboration With Google Launches Consumer Querimetrix

Kotak Institutional Equities (KIE), a division of Kotak Securities, is among the leading institutional brokers in India. The division covers secondary market broking and the marketing of Indian equity offerings. Kotak Institutional Equities, in collaboration with Google, recently launched Consumer Querimetrix — a tool that demystifies and predicts near-term Indian consumer behaviour by analysing Google Trends data. Google Trends is a public web facility of Google, based on Google Search that shows how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total search-volume across various regions of the world, and in various languages.

Using machine learning techniques and merging big data from Google Trends, the first edition of Consumer Querimetrix provides consumer insights into India’s evolving car buying journey. Using Google Trends data, the tool enables ‘nowcasting’ (near-term predictions) on consumer activity, capturing inflection points earlier than traditional forecasting tools to give a complete picture - on car launches, last mile hiccups, cannibals and competition. 

The first edition of Consumer Querimetrix which focuses on the passenger car segment highlights the extent to which the Internet is altering the ground rules for vendors of cars and allied products/services. More than 75% of car buyers are researching online for reviews, comparative specifications, financial products and used car markets before making a purchase. The first edition of Consumer Querimetrix also explains how the traditional ‘funnel' model is giving way to a more complex purchasing path where 'initial consideration' may not always guarantee sales.

The Consumer Querimetrix report outlines the influence of digital marketplaces and calls for carmakers to reassess conventional business practices. The effect is visible as car loans are increasingly being sourced outside dealerships. With over 223% growth in used car queries in India, the report also outlines that horizontal classifieds (OLX, Quikr) may also be impeding new car sales as first-time car buyers may be substituting entry-level models with used car options. In contrast, vertical classifieds seem to facilitate new car sales. There is very strong indication of growing competition in the market, as industry leaders have seen a substantial drop in search-share since 2010 even as advertising spends rose sharply.