India's kiranas see increase in income amid second wave

Propelled by India's push towards digitisation coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic that has accelerated this shift, an increasing number of kiranas are going digital.

Saturday May 22, 2021 , 4 min Read

Propelled by India's push towards digitisation coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic that has accelerated this shift, an increasing number of kiranas are going digital.

And this has not just resulted in kiranas onboarding the payment apps, but has also led to a rise in their incomes.

Homegrown ecommerce marketplace Flipkart says that small retailers on its network, such as general stores, tailor shops, and more, registered a 30 percent rise in average monthly delivery incomes in 2020.

Last year, Flipkart-owned PhonePe said it would enable digital payments for over 25 million small merchants across India by offering them end-to-end control of the payment process.

With this rapid penetration of digital payments, kiranas are now going contactless. This doesn't just enable kiranas to receive digital orders from consumers and make digital payments, but also digitises handling stock and the supply chain, fulfilments, and getting loans sanctioned.

According to projections, 12 million small retailers are taking the digital plunge due to giants like Paytm, PhonePe, Reliance, and Facebook.

This opens up various opportunities for startups such as Ahmedabad-based Easy Pay whose Paisa Nikal app connects both small stores and their consumers through banking services. With its Aadhar-enabled payment system and value-added services, the startup creates additional revenue for the kirana stores in the form of banking commission.

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Flipkart has said the kirana partners or small retailers on its network have registered 30 percent rise in average monthly delivery incomes in 2020. Its kirana programme has onboard mom-and-pop stores, including general stores, tailor shops, etc., to deliver shipments and create new revenue channels for themselves.

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