Stock trading via mobile phones grows during lockdown

"The lockdown witnessed a remarkable shift in trading activity from desktop to mobile devices, as the need for ease-of-convenience increased when multi-tasking at home," FYERS CEO and co-founder Tejas Khoday said. The growing demand for mobile-based trading is majorly among millenials, who are also first-time investors, he added.

Jaideep Arora, CEO of Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said there has been a visible increase in usage of mobile app for trading. Online trading activity has seen a 47 per cent increase in number of customers during January-July 2020 as compared with the year-ago period. There has been a 91 per cent jump in the number of orders placed via the Sharekhan app, he added.

Ravi Kumar, co-founder and CEO, Upstox said modern technology has made mobile apps extremely intuitive and user-friendly, driving the surge in mobile trading. From analysing market to viewing charts and placing trades, everything can be done with a few taps on a smartphone, making it easier to trade on the go, he added.

Currently, over 85 per cent of Upstox customers carry out daily trades on smartphones. Around 75 per cent of its customer base, amounting to more than 1.6 million people as of August 2020, is in the 18–35 age group, which is extremely tech-savvy, he said.

In April-August period, 83 per cent of orders placed through Upstox mobile app were from tier-2 and tier-3 cities like Nashik, Surat, Nagpur, Kolhapur, Ernakulam, Malappuram, and Jaipur. Prakarsh Gagdani, CEO of 5paisa.com, said, "We always have been a mobile first company and have 70-75 per cent of our turnover through mobile. In last few months, we have seen that improving to over 80 per cent".

"We see this trend only increasing going forward, as people have become highly adaptable to evolving technological advancements and would want to make the most of affordable data plans, convenience and ease that mobile trading offers," he added. Besides, mobile medium enables customers to have real-time access to key developments related to trading and investments, Gagdani said.