Unleashing the Potential of Social Commerce in India: Overcoming Key Challenges
Social commerce is a growing business in India. It is worth $5 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) right now, and it could be worth $70 billion by 2030. Social commerce could help more than 40 million small businesses and individuals, but there are some problems that need to be fixed first.
These include making shopping easier, building trust in a scalable way, creating made-for-commerce propositions, smart curation, tools for sellers, opening up new consumer groups, rethinking high-value categories, and building enablers for the social-commerce ecosystem. Indian companies are encouraged to apply and come up with ways to deal with these problems. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Programme Details - DETAILED ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
- The startup should be based in India and should have a valid legal registration (or willing to register in the near future).
- The startup should have a product or service which supports social commerce platforms or an innovative idea to create one.
- Your team should have a strong desire to build a company and ideally should have experience in building projects in the past.
- The startup should have a minimum viable product (MVP) or a prototype that demonstrates their solution to one or more of the challenges outlined in the problem statement.
- The team should have a broad knowledge base to draw upon and an passion in keeping up-to-date with the latest technologies.
- The startup should have a scalable business model that can generate revenue and create sustainable growth.
- The startup should be able to demonstrate their potential impact in empowering small businesses and entrepreneurs in India to expand their reach and supplement their income.
- The startup should be willing to collaborate with other stakeholders in the social commerce ecosystem, such as payment and logistics providers, to build a more robust and seamless social commerce platform.
- The startup should be willing to participate in mentoring sessions, workshops, and networking events with other startups, industry experts, and potential investors.
- The startup should be willing to participate in a pitch competition where they will showcase their social commerce solution to a panel of judges and potential investors.
Small enterprises and entrepreneurs in India have a huge opportunity in the fast expanding social commerce market. Despite promising prospects, a number of obstacles must be overcome before social commerce in India may reach its full potential. This post will go over some of the major difficulties along with some possible answers.
Simplifying the buying experience for customers is a significant challenge in the realm of social commerce. Users may find it inconvenient to have to use various websites and social networking apps to complete a single purchase. Companies may win customers over by making purchasing simple for them, from finding what they want to buying it with minimal effort.
The ability to develop trust at scale is essential to the success of any social commerce venture. Various techniques, including online review, rating, and feedback systems, can help firms face the problem of generating trust at scale. Customers will have more faith in a company that has established itself as trustworthy thanks to these processes, and as a result, will be more likely to make a purchase.
Made-for-Commerce It is proposed that companies give priority to creating goods and services tailored to social commerce sites. This can take the form of tailor-made suggestions, product bundles, and special offers for social media followers.
In order to stand out in today's congested marketplace and attract new customers, firms must prioritise intelligent curation. To do this, algorithms can examine a user's actions, likes, and past purchases to provide tailored suggestions.
Tools for Sellers: Businesses may entice more sellers into the social commerce market by giving those sellers the resources they need to be successful. To better understand customer behaviour and optimise listings, sellers can benefit from training, marketing support, and analytics tools.
Reaching Underserved Markets Social commerce offers the ability to expand business to previously inaccessible markets, such as rural residents and the technologically inexperienced. Businesses can get access to these hitherto untapped demographics by customising their offerings to meet the specific interests, demands, and payment preferences of these groups through the provision of localised content, intuitive user interfaces, and streamlined payment methods.
To realise the full potential of social commerce, companies should rethink high-value categories like electronics and luxury items. One way to do this is by incorporating augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies to provide a more unique and engaging buying experience.
Businesses need to collaborate to provide enablers for the social-commerce ecosystem if they are to succeed in the face of the difficulties presented by social commerce. construct a thriving and linked social commerce ecosystem by working with other firms to build standards for data sharing, construct common platforms for payments and logistics, and so on.
In sum, social commerce in India has the potential to utterly transform the commercial and consumer landscapes of the country. Businesses can release this potential and create a thriving Indian social commerce market by addressing the challenges of simplified shopping, scalable trust-building, made-for-commerce propositions, smart curation, tools for sellers, opening up new consumer segments, reimagining high-value categories, and building enablers for the social-commerce ecosystem.
