Consumers To Increasingly Support Local Indian Businesses: Nikhil Arora, GoDaddy

An increased focus on ‘Made in India’ products, swelling of video content market, innovative payment solutions are some of the key trends that Nikhil Arora, Vice President and Managing Director, GoDaddy India anticipates in the coming years.

Excerpts:

Q1. In the last year, what are some of the brand initiatives around e-commerce? 

At GoDaddy, we are working to innovate and create solutions for entrepreneurs and small business owners to help them build and grow their ventures online. With our products, we aim to give our customers a platform that provides ease and simplicity to sell their products and services online. We offer an Online Store as one of the many online tools included as part of GoDaddy Websites+Marketing product suite. This integrated suite of online tools comes with built-in design templates, powerful selling and marketing tools and flexible shipping and payment options, to make it easy for customers to open and maintain their e-commerce presence.

Additionally, GoDaddy provides integration with WooCommerce, a powerful e-commerce engine available for WordPress. By supporting our WordPress users, the integration reduces the set-up process into one easy step, allowing GoDaddy WordPress users to quickly establish their e-commerce sites with pre-populated, customizable design themes.

Q2. How can one make e-commerce deliver in tier 2, tier 3 markets in India?

With increased online spending and the rise of vernacular-based user interfaces, the scope for e-commerce has widened in India. Online stores have assisted commerce in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. With the lack of capital, it can be difficult to open an in-person retail store location. Yet for a business choosing to start from the beginning by selling their products and services online, getting started is easier with more choices available today. According to a report by ICICI securities 2021, smaller Indian cities are now accounting for a bigger volume of e-commerce sales. Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets with their growing populations, have become targeted areas for the e-commerce industry.

To help enable small businesses in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets to get online quickly, easily and affordably, GoDaddy currently offers an Online Starter bundle. It is a one-stop internet solution, which provides an India-specific .in or .co.in domain name, a starter one-page website, along with a secure professional email account, currently priced at INR 54/month to get started. GoDaddy Online Starter Bundle is an ideal solution for local businesses in smaller towns to get online and sell their products and services across the country. 

Q3. Several companies have followed a dual model of being present on pure play e-commerce (like Amazon, Flipkart) channels or to have their own e-commerce (self or branded) channels as well. Which route do you think works best given the current on-ground dynamics in India?

Selling in your own online store on your website gives a business total control to establish their unique identity and customize selling opportunities to cater to their audiences, in an otherwise crowded marketplace. There are advantages to having your own e-commerce website. It allows you to choose the messages to describe your business and your products and services.  It can also help to diversify your presence and connect you with your customers on a deeper level with direct access to their needs. A business can also use SEO and other online marketing tools to help drive traffic to their website and optimize their search results. In addition, the additional charges shared with the marketplace can be avoided. However, to help further expand reach for your business, you can consider having both your own online store and selling on e-commerce channels, which working together can help you reach more potential customers across more channels.

Q4. What are some of the key trends that you see emerging in this space over the next few years?

Some of the key trends that we see emerging in the next few years to help enhance the customer experience and improve the efficiency of e-commerce websites include:

• Further focus on Made in India products: We will see more consumers taking a conscious step to support and buy from local Indian businesses. With government initiatives including Make in India, Vocal for Local and Aatmanirbhar Bharat, many small businesses in the country will get the opportunity to grow in the market and revive. We expect this will present significant growth opportunities for e-commerce across sectors in India in the coming years.
• Innovating Payment Solutions: COVID has accelerated the use of UPI apps and debit/credit cards to make online purchases. With customers increasingly becoming digital-savvy, cashless transactions will become the most preferred mode of payment.
• Shop and Go with Mobile Phones: With mobile shopping projected to grow by 21 per cent annually over the next four years in India, mobile interface integrations and ease of commerce are essential. It is a clear indication that a good way for an e-commerce website to grow is by adopting the mobile shopping trend. Websites will be focused on creating an easy interface for consumers to use on a variety of devices for research, shopping and connecting. 
• Video Content on the rise:  Adaption of short-form product videos have started picking momentum by several e-commerce websites and marketplaces. We foresee videos to take over the product article description, helping consumers understand the specifications better by seeing a product in action, helping to increase purchase activity. 
• Returns Management Strategies: With the emergence of virtual fitting rooms and virtual shopping, returns have been an important touchpoint for the e-commerce industry. We believe that new strategies and investment trends by e-commerce websites will be designed to keep consumer convenience strategies at the core and promote ‘easy to return’ policies as an integral part of the purchase experience.