The business world today is progressively shifting toward eCommerce. eCommerce in India is also gaining traction and is right now one of the most moving channels for business exchanges. According to the INDIAN E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY REPORT by IBEF, the Indian eCommerce market is expected to grow to US$209 billion by 2026 from the US $38.5 billion in 2017.
The market size which has been propelled by the rising penetration of digital smart devices, the amount of internet connections in India naturally has risen to 775.45 million motivated by the 'Digital India' program. Government initiatives such as Digital India, Skill India Make in India, Start-up India, and Innovation fund has massively helped to propel Government eCommerce into the scenario. The tactful implementation of such initiatives has helped support the growth of Government eCommerce all over the nation.
The past year in February, the Government eMarketplace (GeM), recorded 1,071,747 dealers and service providers across more than 13,888 products and about 176 services categories. The government of India had acquired Rs. 23,424 crore (3.2 US$ billion) from micro and small enterprises by January 2020.
Under the initiative of the Digital India movement, the government of India has launched many programs like Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) Umang, Start-up India Portal, etc. to boost the digitization of commerce.
In a bid to encourage the participation of international players in the Government eCommerce, the government increased the cap of FDI in B2B models of the Government eCommerce marketplace model to 100%.
The development in the industry of eCommerce in India can also be seen in the private sector and not just in Government eCommerce.
Flipkart recently, in February 2021 banded together with the Maharashtra state khadi & village industries board as well as with the Maharashtra small scale industries development corporation to bring regional craftsmen and boost the small and medium organizations into the eCommerce environment.
In November 2020, following the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat's vision, Amazon India launched the 'Made in India' toy store which permits a large number of merchants and manufacturers to sell toys driven by Indian folk tales, culture, and such toys that encourage creativity that can be crafted and manufactured locally.
In February 2021, Zomato went into an arrangement with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to bring out about 300 street food vendors on its food delivery portal.
As you can already see, there's quite a lot of opportunities available nowadays for any Indian eCommerce seller. The main talent, however, lies in how one uses those opportunities. It is relatively easy to think of an idea and a website for one's business. However, the increasing amount of opportunities brings out quite a huge amount of competition. According to stats by OBERLO, it's estimated that there will be 2.14 billion global digital buyers in 2021.
To compete with their competitors many Indian eCommerce sellers forget to see the many aspects that determine the success of an eCommerce business. And to ensure the success of a venture, one needs to know some facts. Some facts that will enlighten one more on the industry of Government eCommerce in India.
1. Government e-Marketplace (GeM), was launched in 2016 to set up a devoted e-market for sellers offering different goods and services ready to be procured. It has since encouraged many micro and small enterprises to join the Indian eCommerce scenario. GeM has helped promote Government eCommerce a great deal. And with an astounding seller base, GeM is without any doubt the biggest eCommerce marketplace in India.
2. Government eMarketplace: GeM, as of yet has handled 55.74 lakh orders with transaction value overpassing the Rs.80,000 crore mark. There's also been an increase in micro and small sellers from 66,000 in January of 2020 to over 4.71 lakh in January of 2021. For the financial year 2020-21, the general procurement from government ventures stood at an astonishing Rs.73,933 crore. The products were obtained from over 1.11 lakh micro and small sellers while procurement from SC/ST and women-driven endeavors were worth Rs.446 crore and Rs.469 respectively.
3. Currently the Government is trying out innovative ways to bring different kinds of works on the GeM platform to further widen the scope of Government eCommerce in India. As of now, only goods and services providers are registered on the GeM portal and the facility for procuring works such as road & building construction, setting up of big plants and other facilities aren't available on the platform. To counter this issue, the government has come up with an approach paper for stakeholder consultations to explore ways to bring in such works on the portal. The acquirement of such work lines will help make the platform a nationwide procurement portal for all kinds of purchases by states, centers, and government agencies.
4. The Indian Toys, another initiative of the Government, was launched to encourage sellers to produce toys for India's ever-growing young population. Owing to the new call of 'Local se Vocal', it's been anticipated that India will be the new global hub for this by 2025-2030. According to a report by IMARC, the Indian toy sector is going to cross the US$ 3.3 billion mark by the year 2024. This initiative asks for merchants to market, produce, and sell such toys, reflecting India’s essence in them. This program chalks out a plan to promote and induce the value of traditional Indian toys in the country by creating Toy Labs.
5. Bharat Craft: As stated by MSME minister Nitin Gadkari, the Government is taking a cue from the growth of the Government eMarketplace, and working along with SBI to come up with a B2C eCommerce marketplace namely Bharat Craft for the micro and small sellers to market and sell their various products in India as well as internationally. This B2C marketplace would be similar to the eCommerce platforms such as Amazon, Alibaba, Flipkart, etc, and will be directly competing with these platforms. Here's a news source on the Bharat Craft Govt eCommerce portal. This project is still under development.
6. Van Dhan Yojana: On the 14th of April, 2018 Van Dhan Yojana of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED was launched by our prime minister Shri Narendra Modi. This scheme seeks to work on and improve tribal incomes by adding value to tribal products. The various Van Dhan tribal start-up programs under the scheme have helped generate livelihood for the tribal gatherers and transforming them into entrepreneurs. Such initiatives have helped promote and reach Government eCommerce to the grassroots levels. Initially, the tribal entrepreneurs have to go through workshops, skill development training, and seminars on food hygiene and safety standards.
Few More Points About the Government eCommerce Scenario in India:
The state of Manipur has arisen as the champion state where the Van Dhan Yojana has massively helped local tribes find employment. Around 144 Manipur Van Dhan products have been introduced to the retail market of 13 significant urban communities of the country through TRIBES INDIA and the TRIFED -Marketplace.
In Assam, TRISSAM, a brand was launched under the Van Dhan Yojana to economically uplift the Tribal communities and make them economically self-reliant.
Several products made by the tribes in the VDVKs such as wild honey, mustard oil, bhut jolokia, black rice, etc were launched. The former chief minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal, stated that these products promote the abundance of natural and forest-based products in the state.
The COVID-19 crisis last year saw the beginning of a Grameen eCommerce revolution. CSC Grameen eStore is an excellent eCommerce initiative by CSC eGov to promote online shipping, order, and delivery in rural areas. It is transforming the way rural people get their products and services. Currently, the CSC Grameen eStore App is serving 10,000+ pin codes across all the 28 states and UTs of India. The CSC Grameen eStore App is freely available for all citizens in the Google Play Store and App Store.
Only a CSC VLE can set up a CSC Grameen eStore. A CSCVLE (Village Level Entrepreneur) is a local person who does digital literacy training, delivers digital services such as B2C, G2C to the citizens among many other services. They in a way sustain the CSC scheme. The CSCVLE eStore is created for such VLEs. The online platform provides all kinds of eCommerce solutions for thousands of VLEs. The CSC VLE eStore fulfills the various needs of the VLEs by allowing them to set up a complete eCommerce site with all the tools needed to sell products online. The CSCVLE eStore is rapidly growing out to be an eCommerce platform with many benefits.
If you are a merchant, thinking to join the eCommerce Industry of India, now is the right time to dip your toe into the Government eCommerce scenario. You can register yourself on the GeM portal or join the eGrameen revolution to have an active part in Government eCommerce and gain the idea to get started in the post-covid era. There's a lot of opportunities out there right now. The Government is actively introducing programs to encourage more and more sellers to take part in selling their products online in a bid to boost the Indian eCommerce. So, understand your products or services, market them rightfully online and be a proud part of the thriving industry of eCommerce in India.
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