Local sellers had a completely unfamiliar situation in 2021 since they had access to the latest technology, which included some applications and platforms that allowed them to take their stores online to sell their items, as well as easy payment processing and reliable delivery options
India is the fifth largest and preferred retail destination globally. The country’s ranking is among the highest in the world in terms of per capita retail store availability. Despite this, the retail business had an especially terrible year in 2020 because of the pandemic. However, consumers in tier two and tier three cities have generated phenomenal growth for the retailers in 2021. According to industry estimates, home appliances saw a 5-8% volume increase in August, led by sales during Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja, with businesses launching early promotional deals. Retail sales in October 2021 climbed by 34% over the same month in 2020, according to the Retailers Association of India (RAI), showing a positive trend following a long time of having the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021 was clearly better than the year 2020. When it comes to consumers, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said that individuals throughout India spent Rs 1.25 trillion on Diwali shopping, surpassing a 10-year record. The festive season alone generated about Rs 25,000 crore in revenue in Delhi.
There are two primary factors that have resulted in a surge in the retail industry. The first is that the government has conducted mass vaccination drives across the nation, because of which India has crossed 100 crore COVID-19 vaccination doses, stating that people are more secure and are going shopping. Second, due to the severe slowdown in the retail business in 2020, various digital solutions were provided to local retailers during the pandemic. It was primarily intended to assist them in moving their stores online and selling from anywhere with minimal technicality. These technological solutions were extremely beneficial to the retail industry in 2021.
According to a Tech.co research, 80% of small company owners believe COVID-19 has had a negative effect on their business in 2020. It’s not surprising. However, as a result of the unlocking and vaccine campaigns, people went shopping more in 2021 than in 2020. Local sellers had a completely unfamiliar situation in 2021 since they had access to the latest technology, which included some applications and platforms that allowed them to take their stores online to sell their items, as well as easy payment processing and reliable delivery options. As a result, customers spent more money on shopping this year than they did last year. We talked to a few local retailers. Let’s have a look at what they had to say.
“The previous year, I could not open my shop due to the dire circumstances, but my family managed to survive. It was tough for us to accept that things would continue to be the same as last year, but we are back and doing well this year. People are flocking to buy necessities, and the holiday season, by God’s grace, went off without a hitch,” said Sunil Kumar, the owner of a local grocery shop.
“Last year, I vacated my shop as I had to pay the rent even if the shutter was down, which was very tough for me because it takes a lot of effort to start over. This year was like magic from the beginning. So I started getting a good number of customers, and somehow things went back on track. Speaking of the festive season, my products are selling more than expected,” said Reeta, a dairy shop owner.
After speaking with these local sellers, we observed that things were worse in 2020, but in 2021, things exceeded their expectations far better than the previous year. It is now expected that their businesses will run smoothly and expand in the coming days since the sellers now have the technological tools to take their businesses online and sell them. They no longer need to be concerned because they can now sell from anywhere thereby eliminating the need for a physical store. For this successful year of retail, the sellers have worked extremely hard and fulfilled the ever-changing consumer experience standards.
Source: Business World
