These small shops have been the worst hit by advent of large format retail and e-commerce over the last few years but a large number of them have bounced back into the business with the effective use of technology.
Traditionally these stores and their owners were not keen on technology and it was seen as a disruption/complication to their otherwise simple business – the extent of technology used was limited to a billing machine, barcode scanner and credit card POS – this too in only about 10% of the 12 million strong Kirana shops in India.
With Covid-19 and its implications on the future of doing business has brought in many changes in the way we will interact with physical retail and purchase goods and services, the Kirana stores in their new avatar are likely to have a far reaching impact on their businesses in the following ways. Getting Organized – given that a lot of stores have seen a 2x/3x jump in sales over the lockdown period, they have realized that having a billing machine to track sales and inventory will be helpful and hence many of the technology adoption fence sitters will not probably opt in for a billing machine and barcode scanner. This will help them also generate formal invoices and get GST benefits.
Going Online – With digitization offerings like that of Near. Store and other hyperlocal initiatives by large e-commerce players like Amazon, Flipkart and Jio, kirana stores have seen the benefits of being available online and the ease of customers placing an order online. This helps them focus on merchandising and fulfilling instead of taking orders over the phone or WhatsApp through the day.
This story is from the May 2020 edition of SME World.
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This story is from the May 2020 edition of SME World.
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