Category: Process & Business Expansion

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Process & Business Expansion Startup

GST Registration Applicants Can Opt for Aadhaar Verification Or be Ready for Physical Inspection of Place of Business, Says CBIC

New Delhi, August 22: The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on Friday issued a circular stating that businesses can opt Aadhaar verification for registration of Goods and Services Tax or else be ready for physical verification of the place of business. Usually, physical verification takes 21 days, while the verification through Aadhaar can be done in 3 days.

Issuing a notification, CBIC directed that the new applicants can opt for the authentication of Aadhaar number while applying for GST registration. The new notification will be effective from August 21. However, the government stated that the applicant will have to undertake the said authentication while applying for GST registration.

The notification stated, “Where a person… fails to undergo authentication of Aadhaar number or does not opt for authentication of Aadhaar number, the registration shall be granted only after physical verification of the place of business in the presence of the said person.”

As per details, the linkage of Aadhaar with GST and PAN (permanent account number) would help the government build centralised database available facilitating data analytics and help in checking tax evasion. With this, the GST registration can be granted within 3 days without a physical inspection of the premises.

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Finance Process & Business Expansion Startup

Atal Innovation Mission Ties Up With India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre to Boost Vibrant Start-Up Ecosystem

AIM-Business Sweden tie-up to boost start-up ecosystem.
AIM-Business Sweden tie-up to boost start-up ecosystem.

New Delhi, August 21: India on Thursday signed virtual Statement of Intent (SoI) with Sweden under the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) to promote the disruptive potential of Indian entrepreneurs. The SoI was signed between AIM, NITI Aayog and Business Sweden on behalf of India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre (ISHIC) to boost the vibrant start-up ecosystem across the country.

With this collaboration, the Indian government is looking forward to receiving support by the means of conducting programs, awareness campaigns, various activities and events. The motive behind the collaboration is to promote the overall innovation grid of both the countries through the initiatives being run by AIM such as Atal Research & Innovation for Small Enterprises (ARISE), Atal Incubation Centre (AIC), Atal Community Innovation Centers (ACIC), Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) and Atal New India Challenge (ANIC).

Informing about the collaboration, NITI Aayog’s Mission Director AIM — R Ramanan — said, “We are very proud that India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre is partnering with us in our endeavours to nourish the existing innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in India while also enabling innovation collaborations with counterparts in Sweden. Such synergies will enable a vibrant growth of world-class Indian startups addressing both Indian and global opportunities leveraging global partnerships and networks of Swedish companies.”

Sharing his opinion on the AIM-Business Sweden tie-up, Swedish Trade Commissioner to India, Anders Wickberg said, “We are very happy to partner with AIM who has been playing a significant role in promoting Indian start-up ecosystem. The collaboration with AIM will further strengthen the India-Sweden healthcare innovation centre eco-system to enable seamless experience and faster scale-up to startups onboarded with the India-Sweden Healthcare innovation centre.”

It is to be known that ISHIC agreed to support all the goals of AIM and hep in enabling synergies towards creating a sustainable ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation between India and Sweden. This includes building a seamless experience for the start-ups. Also, ISHIC has assured to further strengthen and support the innovators in finding solutions to the healthcare sector. Earlier, a similar tie-up was done by ISHIC between AIIMS Delhi, AIIMS Jodhpur and Business Sweden.

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Process & Business Expansion Startup

Uttar Pradesh, France Explore Opportunities to Develop MSME Sectors Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

A worker at an MSME firm
A worker at an MSME firm. | Representative image.

Lucknow, August 21: Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) of Uttar Pradesh and the Indian Ambassador to France on Wednesday joined hands to explore possibilities to develop sectors like defence/aerospace, textile, footwear and skill development.

State MSME minister Sidharth Nath Singh held a video conference with Indian Ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf intending to ease regulations to promote investments in the state. Both the leaders agreed to set up a working group to relocate disrupted supply chains amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sidharth Nath Singh said, “There is a huge opportunity to increase percentage potential of exports from India and U.P. to France. A large land parcel has been earmarked for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) near the Jewar Airport in Greater Noida which can provide investment opportunities to French companies.”

Stating that the agreements between UP and France would help in the promotion of investments and exports, Additional Chief Secretary (MSME and Export Promotion) Navneet Sehgal said, “U.P. has excellent policies and incentives, and this is a great opportunity to promote investments in the state and exports out of the state to various countries.”

Expressing his opinion, Asraf said that UP was the first state to approach France with its initiative to promote investments and exports and had been successful in changing its image in recent years. Meanwhile, UP MSME Minister said that France is the gateway to the European Union market. He also opined that tie-up with France can be an attractive opportunity for Uttar Pradesh

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Business motivation Process & Business Expansion

5 Business Tips Every Entrepreneur Should Know

Business Tips | Representational Image Only (Photo Credits: Pexels)

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the entire dynamics of running businesses. Running a business is hard, but if one puts in consistent efforts, no one can diminish the spark of an entrepreneur. One has to be really focused and have a positive mindset to succeed and to gain a competitive advantage over rivals. It becomes the need of the hour to make yourself and your business strong and worthy enough to deal with the perils of new entrants in the market.

Insulating yourself from such threats will not only help you grow your business, but also focus on trying to survive in the market at times of crisis. Being an entrepreneur in any sector should fill a hole in a certain market or niche.

Here are 5 Business Tips that Every Entrepreneur Should Know

Customers First: Listen to Them

The most important feature that a successful entrepreneur should possess is the quality of listening. The more you listen, the better you understand the problems of your customers. The quality of listening not only helps you focus on finding a solution, but also makes your customers happy as you give them a patient listening.

Trust Your Gut

Believe it or not, you need to trust your gut as it helps you make the right decision. This phrase is often used but rarely understood. Folks out there in the market are looking to solve a problem or find a particular type of product. If you trust your gut and give an idea a shot, who know? Your idea may be a hit!

Track Your Finances Inside And Out

A successful entrepreneur is the one who knows the key to access and manage the finances in a proper manner. If one knows the finances inside-out, keeps a record of the spending and earnings and plans accordingly, nothing like it! An entrepreneur should be well versed with the the firm’s revenues, expenses, capital requirements, profits (gross and net), debt, cash flow among other things. Spending are always easy, earning them takes a great deal of effort.

Be A Solution, Not A Problem

People out there have a lot of problems already. You be the solution! Provide solutions by listening to your customer’s grievances.  It’s a lot easier to gain a solid customer base when your business is fixing a problem. Just sit, be quiet, and listen to yourself.

Never Stop Looking for New Ideas

Be open to new idea. A successful entrepreneur is the one who should be open to fresh ideas even if after reaching a certain level of success. When one is open to fresh deals, the business has the potential to reach a next level altogether. The most successful businesses are always on the lookout for new ideas and useful business tricks that they can use.

 

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Finance Process & Business Expansion Startup Strategy

5 Ideas to Rebuild Small Businesses Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Few tips that can help small entrepreneurs to rebuild their business post COVID-19 pandemic
Few tips that can help small entrepreneurs to rebuild their business post COVID-19 pandemic. | Representative image

Mumbai, August 14: With the coronavirus lockdown still persistent in the country, small businesses are the most hit. While some have pulled down their shutters completely, others are looking for strategies to rebuild and reshape their businesses. Here are a few tips that can help small entrepreneurs to rebuild their businesses:

1) Financial Damage Assessment:

Every entrepreneur needs to analyse and calculate how bad their business has been affected in the COVID-19 lockdown. The first step that one entrepreneur shall take is to update the financial statements which include profit and loss or cash flow statements. Comparison with previous year’s numbers to see the loss is certainly a good idea to begin again.

2) Reshape Business Plan:

Ideas that might have worked pre-COVID-19 era, may not work after the lockdown. So it is very important to remodel the business strategy and do some fine-tuning. Paying close attention to competitors’ plan is another idea that would certainly help in reshaping the lost business.

3) Focus on Generation of Working Capital:

When an entrepreneur takes an initiative to rebuild the business, especially after COVID-19 pandemic, focussing on the generation of working capital becomes the priority. Without this essentiality, all plans to reshape a business model will turn into a failure. Look out for options for a sustainable and suitable financial lender/s who can show some faith in you (entrepreneur). But, for that, mutual understanding and trust are required, which an entrepreneur will have to build with the lender/s.

4) Revamp Budget Account:

Calculative risks during times like COVID-19 always help in revamping budget requirements for entrepreneurs who want to rebuild their businesses. All business ideas have pros and cons, however, a clear idea of what is needed for budgeting and what can be cut from the expenditure would certainly help in achieving the goal — monetary waste. Salary cut to self and only essential hiring are some of the good ideas that have been prescribed by experts.

5) Contingency Plan for the Next Crisis:

This is perhaps the last, but the most effective way to give life to business while rebuilding it. Learn from the previous mistakes and start working on the contingency plan for the next crisis. Saving the profits by cutting down useless expenditures and adapting self to the new way of business are some ways which will keep an entrepreneur in the market for a longer period. Moreover, thinking out-of-the-box to prepare for a worst-case scenario will be fruitful.

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Finance Process & Business Expansion Startup Strategy

Emergency Credit Facility Under ECLGS for Small Businesses Hiked From Rs 25 Crore to Rs 50 Crore, NCGTC Modifies Operational Guidelines

MSME (Photo Credits:
Emergency Credit Facility Under ECLG for small businesses hiked from Rs 25 crore to Rs 50 crore by NCGTC. | Representational Image.

New Delhi, August 12: The National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC) on Wednesday issued a circular regarding the modification of operational guidelines for Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS). The common trustee company informed that the new operational guidelines will now cover individuals and more enterprises amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Informing about the minutes of the modification of operational guidelines for ECLGS, the NCGTC stated that the upper ceiling of loans — outstanding as on February 2, 2020 — has been increased under the scheme from Rs 25 crore to Rs 50 crore. Apart from this, there has been a hike in the upper ceiling of annual turnover from Rs 100 crore to Rs 250 crore. This has been done in line with the increased ceiling of loans outstanding and revised definition of MSME issued by Union Ministry of MSME.

Among other details, the NCGTC circular stated that there has been an increase in the maximum amount of NCGTC to Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) under the ECLGS. The amount limit has been raised from Rs 5 crore — at present 20 per cent of Rs 25 crore — to Rs 10 crore, which is 20 per cent of Rs 50 crore. However, it has been made clear that those individual loans given for business purposes should fulfil the eligibility criteria prescribed under the scheme.

NCGTC Circular Regarding the Modification of Operational Guidelines for ECLGS:

Earlier on May 23, 2020, the NCGTC was set up by the Ministry of Finance’s Department of Financial Services as a common trustee company to manage and operate various credit guarantee trust funds. It was incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 on March 28, 2014, with a paid-up capital of Rs 10 crore.

Under the NCGTC, five trust funds currently operate:

1) Credit Guarantee Fund for Skill Development (CGFSD
2) Credit Guarantee Fund for Education loans (CGFEL)
3) Credit Guarantee Fund for Factoring (CGFF)
4) Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units (CGFMU)
5) Credit Guarantee Fund for Standup India (CGFSI)

The NCGTC was launched ECLGS on May 23, 2020, for all the financial institutions of India. Among the four key points, which differs it from other schemes include — 100 per cent credit guarantee, zero guarantee fee for banks and customers, pre-approved loans and minimum bank’s risk weight allocation. However, the scheme will continue till October 31, 2020, or till the time Rs 3 lakh crore of the loan amount is sanctioned. The NCGTC has also made it clear that borrowers must be GST registered wherever it is necessary.

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Process & Business Expansion Sales Startup

Steps Taken by Modi Government to Give Relief to MSMEs, to Accelerate the Wheel of Economy That Slowed Down Due to Lockdown

Business in India | Representational Image Only (Photo Credits: Pexels)

The government has said that the recent steps that it has taken are aimed at giving relief to MSMEs which will in turn accelerate the wheel of economy in India. Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari, during a webinar said that the changing the definition of MSMEs, Scheme of Fund of Funds, Champions portal, extended credits to MSMEs will certainly accelerate the wheels of economy which had slowed down due to lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

During his address, Gadkari informed that loans of about Rs 1,20,000 crore have been disbursed to MSMEs out of Rs 3 lakh crore announced in the relief package. Discussing about the problem of delayed payments, he said that instructions have been given to all Ministries, Departments and PSUs to clear pending bills of MSMEs within 45 days. He also urged all Chief Ministers to issue directions for clearing MSME dues by their State/UT Ministries/Deptts and PSUs on priority. The Minister added that we are closely monitoring the complaints lodged at SAMADHAN Portal also.

Gadkari said this while addressing a Virtual MSME Conclave organized by FICCI Karnataka State Council. The Minister further appealed to all the stakeholders to do away with all kinds of fear and negativity and assured that government is doing everything possible to make the country a super economic power. The Minister informed the participants of the webinar that we are working on the idea of a Land Bank and Social Micro Finance Institution which will be very helpful for entrepreneurs and persons who want to run small shops and businesses.

While discussing Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gadkari said that handloom, handicrafts, khadi industries and agro-based industries should be encouraged especially in 115 aspirational districts in India. He said planning will be taken up for special policies for agricultural, rural and tribal sector because they have huge potential of creating employment.

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Finance Process & Business Expansion Startup Strategy

Innovative Ideas for Entrepreneurs to Keep Restaurant Startups Rolling Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Apart from unique challenges, the COVID-19 brought fresh opportunities for India in the hospitality and allied sectors. Here are few ideas which entrepreneurs in restaurant startups can try to keep their businesses rolling.
Innovative Ideas for Businesses

Mumbai, August 11: With almost five months out of business due to the coronavirus lockdown, one of the worst-hit sectors in India is the food and restaurant businesses. While many startups opted for innovative ideas, others failed to survive the lockdown. India’s lockdown against COVID-19 is considered to be among the toughest, however, relief measures given by the central government did keep the hope alive.

Apart from unique challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic brought fresh opportunities for India in the hospitality and allied sectors. Many startups succumbed, but few thrive as they looked for a window to keep their businesses running. Use of social networking and personal relations still make those few reaping profits in adverse market conditions.

Here Are Some Ideas Which Helped Small Restaurant Businesses Survive:

1) Use of Social Media:

During the lockdown, the biggest challenge for a restaurant business is to connect with their customers. Social media became a boon for all those startups who remained in contact with their valued customers. Be it Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Gmail or Instagram, these social media apps helped the small entrepreneurs to keep their businesses running.

Apart from providing the latest information regarding the renovations in restaurants to take away services, people came to know it from social media only — if their favourite dining places are open or closed. Also, updating the precautionary measures taken by the firm to keep its customers safe, did make a lot of difference.

2) Adaptations and Collaborations:

Adaptation to norms and guidelines issued by the administration did play a great part for startups. For example, Chaayos — which started in 2012 — joined hands with another influencer marketing platform called Pulpkey. Apart from serving the ‘signature “Meri Wali Chai“, they also decided to create awareness among people. For this, they hired renowned content creators and influencers and started sharing quality content straight to the customers’ mobiles via social media. Hence, Chaayos is still serving the ‘chai drinking nation’ with the same zeal and love.

3) Takeaway and Door-Step Delivery With COVID-19 Protection:

Foodies anywhere are foodies. Be it rain, dawn, dusk or midnight, foodies will order food online. However, the COVID-19 stopped the wheels of food-delivery guys for some time. Business took a hit and many wrapped up their shops.

With the Unlock guidelines issued, the wheels started to roll and food-delivery was again back on track. This time, the food delivery system was a little different. First, the delivery guys maintained a 6-feet distance and secondly hygiene maintenance was observed very strictly. The result was small entrepreneurs in the hotel business managed to survive. Special mentions to food warriors of Swiggy, Uber Eats and Zomato.

4) Marginal Charge for Hygiene:

This is something that customers in India don’t like. Since lockdown is in place and sit-in dining is almost restricted in most places, charging extra for take-away to door-step deliveries — by asking customers to pay for hygiene practices — may take not be a welcome move.

However, making valuable customers understand the importance of hygiene practices and costs associated with it, the gesture might help. These days customers are well aware of the dangers of COVID-19 and are willing to pay extra to cleanliness and hygiene. So looking at the broader prospect, the idea of charging a marginal fee for cleanliness may help entrepreneurs to keep their business functioning.

5) Financial Management and Revenue Generation:

Among all the other factors, the utmost requirement is to keep the startup moving forward with proper financial management skills. Due to the COVID-19 revenues of almost all food-allied entrepreneurs declined, some even bailed-out too. But few are still sustaining and may sustain for long as they have ample revenues for it.

For those, whose revenues are crippling and businesses are on the verge of shutting down, one of the easiest ways is to reach out to banks — which provides loans under MSME schemes at nominal interest rates and easy instalments. Reaching out for funds to family members and friends is another good idea.

6) Patience and Perseverance:

Difficulties and challenges are part of startups. COVID-19 may have seized the business ideas and expansion, but what’s important is entrepreneurs shall not lose hope and patience. They should keep inventing innovating ideas and persevere to reach their goals. Things may take a little time, but with calculative risks and patience, the flower of success will bloom.

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Process & Business Expansion

Which Franchise Model is Good For Your Business

सफल उद्दमी
सफल उद्दमी

Franchising is a superb avenue to explore while starting a business. Before investing money in the franchise, entrepreneurs should look for best Franchise Business Models which can work. While doing so, there are many questions that come up in everybody’s mind- 

Which Franchise Model will bear the most benefits? 

How are these models different from each other? 

What are the pros and cons of these models? 

If you’re one among them, then throw away your worries, we’ve got it covered for you.

COCO (Company Owned Company Operated) 

  • The COCO franchise business model is primarily run by the franchisor itself and the franchise partner only has a stake in the property.
  • COCO model offers franchisees a unique opportunity to generate profit from an established and well-loved brand.
  • The only thing required in this model is an investment. The franchisee does not have to engage in the daily running and gets a guaranteed return.  

FOCO (Franchise Owned Company Operated) 

  • In the FOCO Franchise Model the initial set up cost is borne by the franchise or the owner of the business.
  • The franchisee gets a percentage of revenue or minimum guarantee while the running cost is borne by the company.
  • The company will be responsible in operating it and taking care of all the things necessary to run an outlet, such as Marketing, Logistics, Staff wages, Electricity, rent etc. and the franchise is the owner of the business.
  • The company will also have to give a fixed percentage of profit shares to the franchise owner.

FOFO (Franchise Owned Franchise Operated)
 

  • In the FOFO business model, the company basically rents out the brand for a pre-agreed time period and a particular non-refundable sum.
  • Merchandising and money are decided by the company although the company provides a few similar benefits like in the FOCO model; such as marketing, print and electronic.
  • This Franchise Model is owned by the store, that’s why the operational cost has to be borne by the franchise itself. The Franchise has to assured the percentage share of revenue and the minimum guarantee to the company.
  • This model is adopted for faster expansion of business/brand by the company. 

For example; in a Fast Food Chain where the business is operated and owned by the franchise but regular audits are done by the company to ensure standards are maintained.

COFO (Company Owned Franchise Operated)

  • This Franchise Business Model is adopted by companies when they want to reduce the operational expenses.
  • In this model the company leases the operations to an interested franchise to ensure standards are adhered to.
  • The business ownership still lies solely with the organization, the franchise partner can be changed when the company identifies a more profitable and efficient franchisee.
  • This model is adopted by the company only in well established markets where the company has operated and got a high return on investment.

FICO (Franchise Invested Company Operated) 

  • This business model is similar to FOCO but unlike the FOCO the franchise does not involve themselves in the business operations.
  • Only a fixed amount is paid to the Franchisee by the company as an investment done by franchisee in the business.
  • In this model there can be multiple franchise partners and investors as the company runs the business operations with end-to-end control of the supply chain.

Hope this account has given you a clear Idea about the different kinds of models that are present in the Franchise Business. Hence, evaluate all propositions before getting into the franchise model depending on which side of the table do you stand.  

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Process & Business Expansion

How to Transform Your Business From Physical to Digital

How to Transform Your Business From Physical to Digital
How to Transform Your Business From Physical to Digital

Move your Offline Business to an Online Business

Setting up an online business has become the new trend these days. The usage of smartphones is rising and so is the demand for an online market for everything. It’s time to get out of the traditional forms of running a business by adopting the path of Online Business Transformation. Ecommerce companies can reduce their physical infrastructure costs at the same time be available to customers at the click of a button from anywhere in the country.

Want to take your business online? Here are some key steps for easy Business Transformation.

Open a Seller Account –

Amazon is the world’s largest e-commerce company with an expertise in this for over 2 decades. One needs to register as a seller first on Amazon. Other online platforms are also available such as Flipkart (now owned by Walmart), Snapdeal, Myntra, etc. Opening a seller account is free of cost and the process is very simple. The seller just needs to add company details like:

  1. Name of the company
  2. GSTIN
  3. Bank Account Details (to receive payments) etc.

Creating a seller account is the first Business Transformation step that an entrepreneur needs to take

Product Listing –

The second Business Transformation step is to create a product listing. The seller needs to list the entire product range he wishes to sell online. A proper Product title, Bullet points, description, images, videos are required to create a good product listing. It is important that the seller should add as much information about the product with its price to make it easy for the customers to grasp and then make their buying decision quickly.

Order Fulfillment Method –

For easy Business Transformation, major e-commerce companies allow sellers to choose from different fulfillment methods i.e.,

  • Self-Ship – Here seller needs to pack all the orders themselves and take responsibility for the timely delivery of orders received within the given time period.
  • Drop Ship – The Seller is required to pack the products. Ecommerce Company gets the ordered product picked by their logistic partners. The seller is not responsible for any delay in delivery.
  • Fulfilled– Amazon and Flipkart have their own fulfillment channel called FBA and FK Assured respectively. Sellers are required to transport their stock to the warehouses of e-commerce companies in bulk. All the packaging and order delivery is then handled by the company itself.

Regular Payment –

There are no issues of payments when one decides to go for digital Business Transformation. Normally, the first few payments of the orders dispatched is credited to the seller’s bank account within 15 days. Post that, the seller receives payment every 7 days. The seller should keep track of all the transactions. Any delay in payments should be notified to the Ecommerce Company.

Amazon and Flipkart is very seller centric, they get these issues resolved in 24-48 hours.

Account Health –

Last but not least, the seller account health is very crucial for future business and this is a key Business Transformation step. Account Health or Seller account reputation is a reflection of customers’ good or bad experiences. When orders get delivered to the buyer, the Ecommerce player asks for customer feedback which is added to the seller account health. Satisfied customers can give a 5-star rating on the products; on the other hand, unsatisfied buyers will give lesser star ratings. This way the seller will be alert at all times and will supply perfect products to reserve the goodwill. Frequent negative ratings from buyers can result in the suspension of your seller account as well.

Easier said than done, right now these digital Business Transformation steps may seem easy, but providing a good quality product and strong backend operations to keep you ahead from the competition is a tough task. Today E-commerce deals in almost every product providing discounts and benefits to their customers. The customers take more interest to shop online than stepping out as they can buy whatever they want and that too at prices lower than the market. Going digital is cost-efficient and effortless for both sellers and consumers at the same time.