By Vineet Rao
India is home to over 40,000 start-ups today, and hundreds of start-ups are cropping up each day, many of them catering to mass India or Bharat. Most of these emerging start-ups are betting on the rise of digital penetration and smartphones across the country, access to data, and comfort levels with mobile apps, thanks to social media and entertainment apps, to launch digital products and services for Bharat.
A key theme that has emerged among start-ups and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands is social commerce — effectively using social media channels and virality-based models to grow the business. As per reports, India has over 160 million social shoppers, which accounts for more than 53% of the overall e-commerce shopping pie. The social commerce market in India is pegged at over $800 million currently, and is expected to reach $16-20 billion by 2025 and $60-70 billion by 2030.
Unfortunately, many brands make the mistake of copying solutions from the West or China, or merely extend solutions that have worked in the Indian metros. This approach is bound to lead to failure. However, several social commerce companies have made online shopping easy, trustworthy, and fun for new-to-internet Bharat users.
Driving engagement
As the masses have become comfortable using WhatsApp and Instagram, these have emerged as effective channels for online shopping. Customers love to refer products and deals to family members and friends on WhatsApp. The conversations that happen later, related to “what to buy” or “this is so inexpensive”, help brands in driving word-of-mouth publicity and viral marketing. Brands are capitalising on this by launching several ‘share and earn’ rewards and incentives. A new customer is also more likely to purchase if the referral comes from a trusted source in their network.
Since consumers are well-versed with social media, designing the app as a simple ‘vertical scroll’ functionality of a social media news feed works wonders. In addition, including vernacular languages and prominent, bold iconography and vibrant colours increases the app experience even further.
Delivery and pricing
Logistics, especially last-mile delivery, is a challenge in smaller towns. Brands can partner with local entrepreneurs, community leaders, and small logistics providers to enable low-cost and timely delivery. The planned hub-and-spoke approach and local sourcing of products from regional suppliers help in easing this issue. This will also help brands run lean and capital-efficient operations.
It is crucial to be highly aware of customers’ needs and build a sharp assortment that caters to their shopping requirements, both from a category standpoint and brands within. Companies should partner with regional and local high-quality brands along with national brands to offer the most relevant assortment. Observing customers’ shopping patterns by visiting the local shops and conducting focus group discussions go a long way in garnering deep consumer insights. In addition, brands will need to be laser-focussed on pricing, and aim to offer their assortment at lower or equal prices than the local stores — a key factor in attracting customers.
Enabling cash on delivery or QR code-based payment systems at the time of delivery helps allay consumers’ fears related to online transactions and shopping. Even in small towns, people are comfortable using Google Pay, Paytm or PhonePe, making this an easy fix to increase conversions.
While these are tried-and-tested models, they do not guarantee success. Building social commerce for Bharat requires deep research, empathy for the masses, a customer-first approach, and relentless pursuit of customer satisfaction at every step. If brands and organisations can make this their topmost priority, then the opportunities for building and scaling social commerce in Bharat are truly limitless.
The author is founder and CEO, DealShare
Read Also: Credenc announces Mayanka Uppal as its new CMO