Mr. Prashant Muddu, Managing Director & CEO, Jocata
“2022 has been a watershed moment for MSME digital lending in India with a dramatic growth in bank and fintech partnership and transformation of the entire MSME credit value chain, right from origination and servicing to collections. However, there have been three key shifts that define this moment. First is the rapid formalization and digitization of MSMEs, which is evident from the eight-fold increase in MSME’s data consumption. Next is the maturing India tech stack underscored by the availability of API-based data that has rendered end-to-end digital lending for MSMEs a reality, With this the loan approval turnaround time for the sector is as short as one day. And finally, the increased receptivity and adoption of digital lending by MSMEs. Yet, there is a 25 lakh crore credit gap that needs to be addressed. This year, we saw a 70-80% growth in credit demanded by MSMEs as compared to 2021.
To bridge this gap in 2023, we can expect the regulators to further advance the digital MSME lending opportunity by facilitating consent-based data sharing for MSME formalization. This coupled with embedded finance will enhance the credit approval process by looking at transactional data and offer personalised financial products. Further, with RBI bringing GST under the ambit of account aggregators, we will see GST serving as a valuable tool to facilitate cashflow based lending to MSMEs.”
Khushnud Khan, CEO & Co-founder, Arzooo
“E-commerce platforms continue to lead the modern retail space. However post pandemic, 2022 witnessed an increasing number of offline shoppers thus debunking the retail apocalypse narrative. The whitegoods industry, despite being a largely untapped market, has clocked a healthy growth this year with consumers moving back to traditional brick and mortar stores.
Positive consumer sentiments and discretionary spending drove the demand for premium electronics during the festive season. We noticed a remarkable uptick in big ticket items like Televisions, Washing Machines and Refrigerators from these markets. Interestingly, smart TVs led the growth in demand for whitegoods in the aspirational tier 2 and 3 cities thus catching up to close the stark urban – rural consumption divide. With the whitegoods market estimated to cross $21 Billion by 2025, technology solutions will further help accelerate demand and sales of these products from tier 2 and beyond markets.
In the upcoming year 2023 , we expect the consumer durables industry to boom at the edge of innovations like the virtual inventory which holds immense potential to empower offline retailers with 10X better product selection. Powering physical electronic stores with a digital inventory will level the playing field for offline retailers and give them a chance to compete with deep-pocketed online sellers. This becomes even more crucial as customers expect the same inventory selection at better prices from offline retailers as offered by e-commerce platforms. This will also brace the need for human connect and help offline shopping pick momentum.
Along the same lines, credit to retailers and last mile deliveries will further build a robust omni-channel experience to handle large whitegoods. Arzooo is offering credit of up to 1 Crore to offline retailers for working capital cushion and also has a vast network of over 35 hubs and warehouses and a fleet of trucks for faster last-mile delivery across the country for its partner stores.”
Aniket Deb, Co-founder & COO, Bizongo
“ Increased focus on ESG by MSME: As 2022 winds down and B2B companies lay plans for the new year, large corporations will put emphasis on ESG aspects to create more business value and ensure sustainability, especially as India aspires to achieve net zero targets by 2070. Amidst this, a key driver of India’s economic growth, MSMEs will play a critical role in achieving these ESG aspirations. However, transforming the sector will require steering the interest of MSME stakeholders towards a low-carbon emitting business model and promoting an incentive-based model that provides adequate finances and other resources required for the transformation. In line with this, we will see startups and new-age businesses stepping up to amplify awareness, combat inhibitions, and handhold MSMEs toward sustainability. Several benchmarking mechanisms are also likely to evolve that will digitally assess the level of ESG compliance in business operations and benchmark a firm’s ESG score with other firms.
Growth of B2B Ecommerce: India has emerged as one of the most exciting regions for marketplaces, which is now a ubiquitous model across every business category. Amidst this, India’s B2B e-commerce is one of the fastest growing in the world. Even though B2C e-commerce was among the highest-funded marketplace sectors, B2B e-commerce led the charts in terms of deal volumes in 2022, which grew 31% compared to 2018. A key factor for this scale of growth is the dramatic shift in the adoption of a digital-first approach, especially by MSMEs. Further, enhanced convenience and customer experience via personalization, apart from improved financial inclusion for underserved segments have also contributed to rapid acceleration. As we enter 2023, B2B e-commerce models will continue to enable and transform Indian enterprises and MSMEs to create greater visibility and resilient supply chains. In the coming years, this space will mature further with the integration of dynamic pricing and personalization and fuel the online marketplace ecosystem with a 5-times growth in GMV.”
