64% of MSMEs saw ‘Online Sales Grow’: LocalCircle
11 August 2021: As the pandemic continues to accelerate adoption of technology, almost 64% of startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have seen higher sales via digital or e-commerce channels in the last 12 months, according to a survey conducted by LocalCircles.
As a part of the survey, 28% of startups and MSMEs said their digital sales doubled or increased by five-fold in the past year, while another 23% said that their sales through digital channels grew by 50% to 100%. Only 13% said that sales through digital channels increased by up to 50%, while 18% of respondents reported no change.
According to the survey, almost 26% of MSMEs said that they have increased listings of their products and services on e-commerce platforms or aggregator websites. MSMEs and smaller startups participating in the survey also said that they have upgraded their website or app, allowing customers the option to pay digitally.
Almost 25% of the MSMEs participating in the survey considered all three factors as major concerns for doing business online. While the rest of them recognized at least one of the issues mentioned above as a point of concern for online sales. A total of 24% of MSMEs only said that they either do not have any area of concern or didn’t have an opinion on the proposed amendments by the government to e-commerce rules.
“If concerns raised by MSMEs and startups regarding the new Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) rules, 2020 are evaluated in the order of priority, it suggests that 57% of the small businesses find it difficult to update product information like country of origin, MRP, best before date/time, etc., on a regular basis. Furthermore, 57% raised the concern of appointing a grievance officer and timely handling of grievances, and 44% raised the issue of restrictions on sales events,” said LocalCircles in its survey.