The surge of e-commerce in India is driving growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which in turn is contributing to new employment opportunities and GDP contribution, says a study.
The recently released study, jointly conducted by domestic e-commerce player Snapdeal and consultancy firm KPMG, claimed that e-commerce sector in India is projected to cross $80 billion by 2020, examined the macro-impact of the sector on the growth of SMEs and identified remaining gaps in the ecosystem that needed to be plugged.
As per the report, 85 percent of SMEs who adopted e-commerce believe that it is a cost effective medium for sales growth. The study also claimed that SMEs who actively adopt the internet for business activities boast 51 percent higher revenues, which results in 49 percent more profit and a seven percent broader consumer base than their offline counterparts.
“At Snapdeal, we are working towards building the most impactful digital commerce ecosystem in the country and SMEs form the foundation of this ecosystem in many ways,” said co-founder and chief executive Kunal Bahl.
“With over 200,000 sellers operating on our platform, we felt the need to conduct a systematic unbiased study to identify opportunities and challenges to further accelerate the growth of the sector.
“We have taken a number of initiatives like seller training programmes, seller financing programmes – Capital Assist and Snapdeal Seller Advisor Programme, with an aim of creating life changing experiences for over one million sellers in the next three years. This study has given us deeper insights into what more we can do to enable small businesses become more successful online,” he added.
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