Indian Businesses Aim To Tap Consumers Directly in 2021 via Digital Platforms, Says Report

Bengaluru, January 7: As the economy limps back to normalcy, India’s focus will now be more on the digital side in terms of growing businesses. According to a new report, as the economy recovers from the lull caused by COVID-19 pandemic, businesses are preparing flexible models that operate in an online-offline mix. Moreover, the focus for digital platforms in India will be on selling directly to the consumers in 2021, the report said. “Small businesses in India are today evolving themselves as per the consumer and industry requirements”, it added.

According to the findings, entrepreneurs today understand the power of online presence and digital operations. "There has been a 3 times growth in unique businesses creating online stores," the report mentioned. The payment gateway and ecommerce platform has on-boarded more than 2 lakh small businesses from tier II and tier III cities during the lockdown period. Akash Gehani COO & Co-founder, Instamojo, was quoted by IANS saying that small businesses are hungry for growth and much more resilient than we could've imagined. “Merchants have come to understand the diverse nature of consumers and that innovation is the key differentiator," he said.

Instamojo had launched a report on the e-commerce outlook for 2021 which draws the experiences of more than a million small businesses across the country. Explaining how online presence has grown over the years, Gehani explained that small businesses owners are making necessary changes to their brands, to the way they operate, and also the way they deal with their customers online in order to survive in the growing e-commerce space. He said that more than 70 percent of these entrepreneurs had no prior online presence.

The report by IANS said that as a large number of businesses went online in 2020, they also recognised the importance of a wide social media presence. MojoVersity, Instamojo's e-learning platform for entrepreneurs, saw a 9 times growth in enrolments and 11 times growth in the number of merchants getting digitally certified in 2020. The number of businesses updating their social media handles on their Instamojo online store went up an average of 30 percent (QoQ).

"As more entrepreneurs emerge from smaller towns and cities in India, accelerators and incubators are also expanding their services into markets to help nurture the upcoming businesses. Industry reports indicate that 40 percent of investors will come from Tier II and Tier III cities," report added.