New Delhi: Women in urban India are emerging as the strongest drivers of digital engagement, spending significantly more time online than men across categories such as entertainment, messaging, e-commerce and quick commerce, according to a joint report released by VTION and Internet and Mobile Association of India.
The report found that women spend more time than men across most digital categories, with the biggest gap observed in commerce-related platforms.
According to the study, women spend an average of 82.4 minutes daily consuming entertainment content online. Among them, women in the 25–34 age group recorded the highest engagement, spending around 86.3 minutes per day on entertainment platforms.
Women Lead in E-Commerce and Quick Commerce Usage
The report highlighted that women aged 25 to 34 living in major urban centres spend an average of 35.2 minutes per day on e-commerce and quick commerce apps, compared to 24.8 minutes among male users in the same category. This reflects nearly 42 percent higher engagement among women users.
The study also pointed to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence applications as part of daily digital habits in urban India. AI app usage recorded more than 100 percent growth between April 2025 and March 2026, with urban users spending an average of 11.3 minutes daily on AI-based applications.
AI Adoption Growing Rapidly Among Young Urban Users
The report noted that AI application usage is currently most popular among people aged 18 to 34 and among higher-income urban households. Conversational AI tools are increasingly influencing how consumers search for brands and products online, with many users now turning to AI tools even before opening traditional search engines or shopping apps.
Young urban users between 18 and 24 years of age were found to be the biggest drivers of social media engagement, spending an average of 120 minutes daily on social platforms, significantly higher than the overall average of 97.9 minutes per day.
Meanwhile, users aged above 35 remained the strongest consumers in the entertainment category, spending around 77 to 78 minutes daily watching or consuming digital content.
The report also observed that usage patterns for payment apps remain largely similar across different income groups in urban India.
The findings are based on data collected from more than one lakh consented smartphones, representing over 407 million urban Indians.
With inputs from IANS