How small businessmen did their preparations for the festival, many interesting things revealed in this survey
It has been found in the survey that small businessmen are now preparing for big opportunities by being more organized and for this they are also increasing the use of technology.
Hi-tech retail business
There are expectations of the entire business place on the festival, that is why they start preparing for it months in advance. There are signs of preparedness for big companies and the sector, though small businessmen The specific details of the strategy are not disclosed. B2B e-commerce marketplace Solve recently conducted a survey titled ‘Retailer Trends: Festive Edition 2022’ among small and medium-sized businessmen regarding the festival. In which many things of work have come out. This survey has been done on MSME vendors working in more than 300 small towns in India. This survey has revealed how small businessmen prepare themselves for big opportunities.
70 percent of sellers stock 40 percent more
For retailers, the festive season means high demand and heavy competition. In such a situation, the preferred strategy for retailers to take full advantage of the festive season is to keep more stock with them than during the normal season. The survey found that nearly 70 per cent of sellers indicated that they stock at least 40 per cent more than what they usually stock during the non-festive season.
Increasing use of B2B platform
Most of the retailers have traditionally been doing the work of increasing the stock from offline sources. But in recent years, the pandemic and increased penetration of many B2B e-commerce marketplaces have encouraged sellers to use online channels. It was seen in the survey that 83 percent of the participants said that they now order at least 20-40 percent of their stock online through the B2B marketplace platform. Interestingly, the remaining 17 per cent sellers order 60-80 per cent of their stock online. If businessmen are to be believed, B2B e-commerce marketplace has saved both their time and money.
Invoice financing preferred option for payment
Nearly 50 per cent of the retailers surveyed indicated that invoice financing is their most convenient and preferred option for payment. At the same time, 43 percent people said that they are still in favor of cash-on-delivery (COD), in which card payment is preferred by only a small section.
Increased reach to customers through WhatsApp
With the growing popularity of social media apps, especially WhatsApp, retailers are reaching out to more and more customers, making it much easier for them to connect with customers. 51 per cent of the sellers surveyed said that customers discovered their brand through social media, of which 34 per cent were through WhatsApp only. TV advertising, which was until recently the main source of brand discovery and communication, now accounts for only 17 per cent of brand searches. Other interesting results of the survey were also seen. For example, during the festive season, the top selling products under different categories included footwear (sports and casual shoes over formal and ethnic shoes) and apparel (denim and t-shirts).
