The significance of Bharat for businesses
At the e4m Pride of India (South) Brands Summit held in Chennai, experts discussed about Bharat region and how it is growing multi-fold
Businesses are increasingly recognizing the significance of Bharat, the hinterland, and are actively unlocking a myriad of opportunities within its expansive landscape. Projections indicate that Bharat is poised for substantial growth, surpassing the rate of development observed in urban India. At exchange4media Pride of India (South) Brands Summit held in Chennai on January 24, 2024, leaders representing brands from the southern part of the country spoke about the opportunities lying ahead.
A panel discussion on - A new digital Bharat - Aatm Nirbhar Bharat had experts discussing digital growth in the interior part of the country. The panel was moderated by David Appasamy, Director - Strategy & Brand, Social Beat while the panelists were Sivakumar P, CEO at SPR Constructions; Balachandar R, Director - Junior Kuppanna Kitchens Pvt Ltd; Vignesh Manogaran, Head-Contract, Manufacturing, Waycool Foods and Ramesh Narayanan, CEO Adyar Ananda Bhavan Sweets Pvt. Ltd.
Starting the discussion by sharing the numbers and the amount at which India is growing with its online presence, David said, “Let's look at the numbers on how many people are online today. The current number is supposed to be 759 million and there are more being added on. Nearly 220 million of them are shopping, 80 million of them are paying bills, 110 million are paying for online game, 65 million are ordering food online, 25 million are using riding services and 15 million have paid for edutech courses. This is fairly mainstream, not just entertainment or social media. The driver of digital is what the government. IRCTC, where you can book train tickets, has 100 million people using it. Further, 350 million people are using UPI.”
“But this is all the urban India, what about the hinterland we call Bharat? In terms of activities, they are spending 4.5 hours online, and the average spending on digital services is at par or higher compared to metros,” he added.
“They listen to influencers who speak their language, 84% of them would listen to an influencer from their region. In metro cities, it is 63%, whereas in tier 1, it is 75%. Nearly, 83% of Bharat consumers prefer made-in-India products. These are numbers given in my reports by companies like Google, Bane & Co. also by a Kantar report. Over the next two years, digital users are going to increase to 900 million, and urban India penetration, which is at 71%, will grow much slower at 6%, Bharat will grow at 14% and 56% of all new user will be from Bharat”, he added.
Given the transformation that is taking place, especially across Bharat, how have the companies made use of digital optimization?
Ramesh spoke about digital adoption and how it is enabling the businesses with data, he said, “When you talk about people online, there is another big group of people offline which is LAN (local area network). Digital adoption is omnipresent right now, lot of businesses are scaling up, it is the foremost thing that any company would ensure whether it is the quality of product or communication, they can gather data and work on it. From our point of view, we have a lot of touch points across India and globally, now we have come to a stage from ease of business to how well we are going to do digital adoption.”
Vignesh spoke about the B2B business. He said, “My company is a tech-enabled food and agriculture company, so what does it imply in India? Food & agriculture is a $800 billion industry. There is a quick-yet-elaborate transaction that happens with 6-12 steps revolving around three things - physical product, information, and financing. So, this transaction is done using digital technology”. He continued by highlighting that a predominant portion of transactions in the agricultural sector now occurs online. The considerable scale of operations benefits greatly from technology, enabling efficient record-keeping and data management for farmers.
Speaking from his experience Balachandar highlighted the pivotal importance of digital adoption for legacy businesses lies in its capacity to enhance competitiveness, streamline operations, and ensure adaptability to the evolving landscape of modern commerce. He said, “We are a 62-year-old business, 30% of our business is coming online now. So, transactions are divided into three frameworks - DFE - Discovery, Fulfillment, and Engagement. You also have to keep in mind how to better your payment cycle and how you use technology that can optimize your business.”
Sivakumar spoke about the Real Estate business, he said that consumers have changed. He said, “Customer comes with a lot of knowledge these days and a lot of information. There are various aspects people search about these days and are aware of through this knowledge.”
During the ongoing conversation, David inquired about the future of digital payments, and panellists expressed a common sentiment that the use of physical cash appears to be diminishing in the upcoming year. A dwindling number of individuals rely on cash transactions, with a predominant shift towards UPI and digital payments, indicating potential impacts on ATM and banking services. The preference for online transactions over physical presence is growing among customers, and Bharat is expected to play a substantial role in driving digital transformation.
