How women are Making it Big in Business Via WhatsApp-Based Social Commerce?

By Varun Khurana, Founder, Otipy ( India’s fastest growing social commerce venture)

 

Social commerce is not a new concept in the country major chunk of social commerce existed only in the fashion, beauty, and retail industries. Today, social commerce is gaining popularity for one of the fundamental aspects of life – fresh food. Fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables have become the most in-demand products as people switch to healthier ways of living and are eager to know the source.  

 

A USD 200 Billion fresh produce category is now witnessing major disruption through social commerce. It is garnering the attention of consumer, entrepreneurs, and investors, . In fact, consumers are increasingly preferring their food sourced through social commerce for various reasons such as higher credibility, rational price and most importantly, fresher produce (delivered within a day straight from the farms sometime within 12 hrs). For women looking to be a part of the business environment without monetary investment, social commerce within the food category is the ideal solution. Let us take a look at how social commerce is playing a key role in helping women make it big in business.

 

The rise of social commerce

Increasing internet penetration and social media usage have paved the way for the rise of social commerce. A majority of the population today uses and is in fact hooked onto social media and brands are leveraging this aspect. With the rise in demand for fresh produce, women are joining hands with brands to become resellers within their community to make a mark for themselves in their community by leveraging social commerce. Currently, fresh produce is a supply-led model and social commerce is flipping it to demand-led model that further helps in solving the problem of middlemen and wastage (since there is no inventory). Apart from this, it helps resellers connect with their customers-base efficiently and offer real-time feedback to the farmers regarding the quality of the produce.

 

The emergence of women as dominant sellers

 For the first time, women are taking the center stage in spurring the adoption of e-commerce and helping the industry as well as themselves progress. The advent of technology, rapid digitization of businesses, and easy access have helped drive this change. For women sellers, a slew of features aided by cutting-edge technology such as voice chats/chatbots, real-time updates and feedback to the farmers, and most importantly, WhatsApp-based marketing is coming handy to open more doors to become micro-entrepreneurs.         

Additionally, women sellers also have a higher average order value, better retention and repeat orders, making them more suitable. In fact, not just urban cities, but women resellers hail from tier-II and tier-III catchment areas are hopping on the fresh produce social commerce bandwagon to fulfil their goals and achieve financial independence with almost no investment. A whopping 68% of women in most platforms sell from tier-II and tier-III cities.

 

Women sellers also help customers gain the trust factor for unbranded products since they usually tend to lean towards known/established brands. In return, social commerce platforms offer easy access for women to build an entrepreneurial empire of their own through community engagement without hindrances. Particularly in vernacular language-led social commerce platforms, women are dominating the space, even though the concept is still at a very nascent stage. They are learning the tricks of the trade and are keen on flourishing in the competitive business environment.

 

Social commerce is quickly becoming a multi-million-dollar market in India. However, the country has a largely unorganized market, particularly in tier-II, tier-III and tier-IV cities, especially for the fresh produce category with millions of farmers scattered across the country. Additionally, shopping for fresh produce is a social concept of sorts. Since the pandemic has forced us to adhere to social distancing norms, social commerce is flourishing and women are leading the way. With technological advancements, greater digitization and the availability of regional languages providing easy access and seamless experience, the rise of women entrepreneurs through social commerce is inevitable.  

Agastya International Foundation’s Efforts Shines Bright During COVID 19 Pandemic

Amidst this pandemic, Aagstya has been working on developing modules to educate people on COVID-19. The teams across the country have been volunteering their hours to raise funds to buy and provide food supplies and masks to those in need. Summer camps have been conducted through online which is an integral part of Agastya’s pedagogy. The series of art and craft activities were organized like making posters and flipbooks to low-cost model making. They are designed to bring out the best of children’s’ creativity and can be made using the material available in their homes. With a specific focus on skill development, online teacher training sessions were also conducted for teachers in states like Tamil Nadu, NCR, Gujarat, Sikkim, Karnataka, AP, Odisha and others. More than 2 lakh children and 4000 plus teachers have been reached through these sessions so far in the outreach activities spanning 21 states.

The regional teams in Maharashtra and Gujrat have contributed Rs.1 lakh + towards covid-19 relief also Agastya has raised Rs.25+ lakhs for dry ration distribution. About 15000 plus beneficiaries were reached through the relief activities.

In a shining example of the innovative methods promoted by Agastya, two of our instructors, Pandurang and Balaji, converted a cow shed into a classroom when they could not conduct classes in their homes. They reached out to more than a 100 teachers through the online workshops conducted in the shed, proving that learning doesn’t have to stop.

The digital programs have not just been restricted to children. 100+ women across Maharashtra and AP who are parents of children reached by Agastya, are being taught the design thinking process, which is an iterative process that encourages innovative and out-of-the-box thinking to find solutions to problems. Through these classes, the mothers are taught to develop 21st century skills, which are an integral part of the design thinking process. They also helped to recognize and design thinking as a way of life and inspired to teach and pass on the knowledge they gained at Agastya to their peers.

"At Agastya, we believe, every crisis - unprecedented or otherwise - gives birth to an opportunity," says Ramji Raghavan, Chairperson of Agastya. “We are exploring partnerships with both corporate and government organizations to make our infrastructure and people available in the fight against COVID-19 - our Mobile Science Labs, Labs-on-Bikes and Science Centers to deliver personal protective equipment and food,” he added.

About Agastya International Foundation 

Agastya International Foundation is a non-profit Organisation based out of Bengaluru. It is one of the largest hands-on science programs in the world. Its mission is to spark curiosity, nurture creativity and instill confidence in underprivileged children and government school teachers across India.

Indian unorganized retail sector to grow to $496 bn in four years

The unorganized retail sector is expected to grow at about 10 percent per annum to reach $496 billion in 2011-12 despite the steady expansion of organized retailers, a study released Wednesday said.

The report on the impact of organized retail on small shop owners, released in parliament by the Delhi-based think tank Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (Icrier), said the retail business in the country would grow at 13 percent annually from $322 billion in 2006-07 to $590 billion in 2011-12.

The unorganized retail industry was valued at $309 billion in 2006-07.

However, given the relatively weak financial state of the unorganized retailers and the space constraints on their expansion prospects, this sector alone will not be able to meet the growing demand, the report said.

Hence, the organized retail that now constitutes a small four percent of the total industry is likely to grow at a much faster pace of 45-50 percent per annum and quadruple its share in total retail trade to 16 percent by 2011-12, the Icrier said.

However, the Icrier added that small shop owners in the vicinity of organized retailers have experienced a decline in their volume of business and profit after the entry of bigger players.

According to the report, consumers have gained with the entry of organised retailers and their overall spending has also gone up.

While all income groups saved through organized retail purchases, the report revealed that lower income consumers saved more.

Moreover, the report said farmers benefit significantly from the option of direct sales to organized retailers.

Profit realisation for farmers selling directly to organized retailers is about 60 percent higher than that received from selling in local markets.

The study made certain recommendations like facilitation of cash-and-carry outlets, like Metro, for selling farmers' produce to unorganized retailers.

It also urged for encouraging cooperatives and associations of unorganized retailers for direct procurement from suppliers and farmers.

Also, simplification of the licensing and permit regime for organized retail and a move towards a nationwide uniform licensing regime in the states to facilitate modern retail have been recommended.

Source: Agencies

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