Indian Online Consumers More Protective About Personal Data: Survey

* India D2C Summit deliberates USD 100 billion opportunity with new-age stakeholders

Indian consumers are more protective of their personal data and are better evolved than their global counterparts in terms of awareness while shopping online, as per a survey.

“75% of Indian consumers (Global 59%) are evolved and are more aware and protective of their personal data,” said Somick Goswami, Partner, PwC on Day 2 of the India D2C (Direct to Consumer) Summit here today.

The survey data was part of the evolving consumer behaviour and trends, some excerpts of which were shared at the summit attended by the new age companies of India, Asia’s third largest economy.

The summit was held on the backdrop of the post pandemic era in India, which has increasingly seen a rise in digital consumption across segments including grocery, fashion, health & beauty, consumer electronics travel, sports & fitness, crafts and creative and alcoholic beverages.

With relaxation in post-pandemic restrictions, Indian consumers are likely to take a cross-channel view with intertwining between offline and digital transactions with 73% likely to visit shopping malls, Goswami said, attributing to the findings of the survey.

The rise in D2C in India has been facilitated by payment gateways with experts at the summit attributing 99% success ratio being key to selecting the payment gateway and managing the transaction expense ratio.

Earlier, on the Day 1 of the summit on Wednesday, it was deliberated as to how India’s conventional consumer goods companies were increasingly exploring direct-to-consumer (D2C) approach as it is seen as a 100 billion U.S. dollar opportunity.

Tata Consumer’s Nutrikorner, ITC’s Store.in and Hindustan Unilever’s The U Shop are some of the few amongst 600 Indian companies that have forayed into D2C after success of Nykaa on the bourses.

Experts opined that the new age companies are now attracting higher valuation compared to conventional FMCG companies with a 10 percent revenue shift seen towards D2C by 2025.

So far only 5 percent of the 600 companies in the D2C segment have achieved the Rs. 100 crore revenue milestone while 20 percent and 75 percent have revenue between 20-90 crore and below Rs. 20 crore, respectively, which may see consolidation going forward.

 Entrepreneurship Summit (MES) Concluded With Alumni Panel Discussion And Innovation Mela

* The two-week event had a footfall of 2000

* Never give up: Advice by MAHE alumni entrepreneurs

Manipal Academy of Higher Education recently concluded the Manipal Entrepreneurship Summit 2022 with a panel discussion on the topic ‘Essentials of Entrepreneurship”. The finale held on 1-2 April 2022 also featured narration of stories by entrepreneurs, pitch by students & startups and “Innovation Mela”. More than 60 innovators/startups participated in the “Innovation Mela”

MES is an annual flagship event of MAHE jointly organized by MIT, Entrepreneurship Cell (E-Cell) of MIT, Manipal Incubators, Alumni Relations, Innovation Center and Corporate Relations of MAHE.

Before the finale the summit featured online programs like webinar on Metaverse, case study analysis of startups/companies, debate on various topics related to economics, interactive sessions with entrepreneurs and workshop on entrepreneurs, between 17th to 30th March, 2022.

Seven alumni entrepreneurs from various institutes of MAHE participated in the finale panel discussion and deliberated on Govt support to startups & incubators, importance of innovation & entrepreneurship in Higher Education Institutions and the need to jump into entrepreneurial journey in view of matured Indian ecosystem. The entrepreneurs were from pharmaceutical, hospitality, agritech industries, consulting & investment firms and social enterprise. They participated as resource persons in the 2-day finale of MES.

The panel included Mr. Pramod Dsouza- Co-founder of Eagle10 Ventures, Mr. Abhay Nandan- a Jagriti Yatra organizer who runs a school in underdeveloped parts of Bihar. Ms. Garima Vishal -founder of the Dejawoo School of Innovation, Mr. Utkarsh Sinha- Director of Engineering and Management at Bucolic Kailash Agritech and FMCG Pvt Ltd, Mr. Rohit Hangal-Co-founder 'Sphere Travelmedia & Exhibitions', Dr. Vidya Priya Rao-the Founder of Innovatus Marketers Touchpoint and Mr. Ashok Chandak- Promoter and Chairman – M/s. Chandak Laboratories (P) Ltd.

Dr. Narasimha Bhat, CEO & Founder, Manipal Dot Net, Manipal delivered the key-note address. He stressed on the importance of belief in oneself and always working with good intent for achieving success. He encouraged the students to unleash innate talent and enjoy entrepreneurial journey through relishing, rejoicing and regaining.

In his inaugural address MAHE’s Vice Chancellor Lt. Gen. (Dr.) M D Venkatesh said “Entrepreneurship has always been encouraged at MAHE. Our students can see the example of our very own founder T. M. A Pai to understand the power of entrepreneurial capability. Human development around our campuses at Manipal, Sikkim and Jaipur shows the Manipal model of entrepreneurship. I urge our alumni and future entrepreneurs to come forward and make the best use of MAHE ecosystem towards their entrepreneurial journey”

Cdr. (Dr) Anil Rana, Director, Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), Manipal said “We are extremely glad that MES 2022 received such enthusiastic participation from entrepreneurs and startups alike. We hope to continue building the spirit of entrepreneurship amongst our students and faculty with future editions of the summit”

In his closing remarks, Dr M. Vijaya Kini, Convener MES 2022 mentioned that the highlight of this two-week event was footfall of almost 2000 and active participation by the E-Cell of MIT and that going forward, this summit will be creating greater societal impact.