Imagine you are out shopping and find a small local shop selling a hand-carved bamboo pitcher that catches your attention. It’s beautiful, it’s handmade, and you immediately imagine using it in your kitchen. Then, like many shoppers in our digital age, you decide to go online to check if you can get it for less.

 As price-savvy consumers, it’s normal to want the lowest price, and most e-commerce stores run on an “unbeatable price” business model. But in this instance, a quick search brings you to the same product, and what you see surprises you.

Bamboo pitcher comparison between Flipkart and Kalpataru Trading, a Chennai-based boutique owned by Bhavani K., who recently took her brick & mortar store online with Zoho.

The same product at the major e-commerce store is actually more expensive than what the local store is charging! So, on the one hand, you’re probably happy the local store is cheaper so you can support them and still save money, but on the other hand, you probably wonder why. Isn’t online shopping supposed to be cheaper than shopping at brick-and-mortar stores? After all, the cost of running a brick-and-mortar store is usually much greater than an online store.

Cases like these may seem commonplace and trivial, especially amidst the increasing dependence on e-commerce during the pandemic. However, the story here is ironically not about the consumer, but rather about the small and micro business owners.

Because of the lack of a digital presence, most micro and small businesses in India rely heavily on selling through large e-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Shopify because of the sheer volume of customers they draw.

However, these small businesses are often unaware of the losses they incur from the drastic price variation, monthly charges, referral fees, and other fees they have to pay based on which services they choose.

According to a recent Reuters report, select foreign e-commerce platforms like Amazon do actively undercut micro and small retailers in India. Fortunately, with technology, micro, and small businesses can now compete with online retail giants through affordable technology and better adoption support.

At Zoho, we’re committed to supporting innovation and opportunity, which means we are also committed to helping small businesses to succeed both online and in our communities.

Debunking digital transition myths

f you’re a small business owner, how many times have you reconsidered a tech upgrade, either fearing the high cost or thinking the digital method wouldn’t work as well as your traditional process? If you have, don’t blame yourself.

Until recently, these have been the prevailing notions among small businesses regarding tech. On one hand, many expect digital transformation to be expensive, complex, and too difficult to manage without extensive tech experience or a programming degree.

On the other hand, cost-effective solutions are often considered a temporary fix, something to tide you over until you invest into “big tech,” which unfortunately illustrates the old saying, “you get what you pay for.”

The perception that you will have to sacrifice quality—unless you come to the table with a lot of money—has prevailed until recently as the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a rise in techno-optimism.

 As these “high-cost fallacies” unravel, the shift to SaaS has given small business owners access to important technology at affordable costs.

The cost of professionalism

Small businesses often hesitate over a digital transition, assuming that even a straightforward cloud-based operating system might have hidden costs too. This is a valid notion, given that most small businesses in India are accustomed to both legacy systems and large e-commerce platforms known for periodic maintenance investments or increasing annual costs.

 Fortunately, the benefits gained from transitioning to a SaaS e-commerce platform far outweigh these fears.

Let’s look at a local example. Bhavani K, who runs Kalpataru Trading, shifted her boutique from a Chennai-based brick and mortar only to an online storefront in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic with Zoho Commerce. She says, “One of the main elements of shifting online was the cost-effectiveness of the transition.”

After this switch to online, Bhavani K. was also able to convert small orders into bulk orders and integrate Zoho Mail into her business communication, helping her reach a wider audience while retaining the authenticity of her small business.

To read the full article please visit Zoho.com

Sales & Marketing

Give your sales team the perfect set of apps to help close more business deals in less time.

Zoho CRM

A good CRM gives you insights into running your business. A smart CRM gives you the information you need in a way that you can use it. 

An ideal CRM offers you a solution to simplify your processes from day one. Zoho CRM includes the good, the smart, and the ideal in an enterprise-ready package.

Zoho Forms

Create and share online forms, receive email alerts, and get your team involved to manage your data—it's easier done than said with Zoho Forms.

Zoho Sign

A complete digital signature app for business signatories. Create and send documents for signatures anywhere, anytime, and on any device. 

Sign approval forms, NDAs, sales contracts, invoices, and more in any document format with no fuss.

Zoho Social

Social media management software for growing businesses and agencies. Manage multiple social networks, schedule unlimited posts, 

monitor keywords, and collaborate with your team — all from a single dashboard.

Zoho Sales IQ

Hassle free live chat software re-imagined for business growth.

Start proactive online live chat with your website visitors and provide live customer support. Increase the ROI on your content, SEO, 
Adwords and email marketing efforts. Get started now to connect with real time visitors.

Zoho Contact
Contact management software, refreshingly simple.
Zoho ContactManager is an online contact management software that lets you organize contacts, tasks, and deals in one place. 
Managing your business contacts just got easier.

Zoho Inbox
Think inside the (in)box.
Turn unopened emails into closed deals with the only email client built exclusively for salespeople.

Business Process

Simplify complex business processes with apps that will make your team's work easier.

Zoho Creator

Create custom apps for your unique business needs.
Automate business processes, manage data, and make your work easier with custom applications. Streamline business process and collaborate online 

with your team.

Zoho Reports

Transform raw data into valuable insights.
Zoho Reports is a BI and analytics solution that allows you to create insightful reports and dashboards. It assists you to visually analyze your business data, 
and to take informed decisions.

Zoho Site24x7
Monitoring Availability and End User Experience Made Simple. Performance Monitoring Solution for DevOps and IT Operations. 
Monitor the performance of internet services like HTTPS, DNS, FTP, SSL, SMTP, POP, URLs and APIs from 90+ global locations (or via wireless carriers) 
and those within a private network.

Email & Collaboration

Empower your workforce with apps to collaborate and transform the way they work.

Zoho Mail

Take Control Of Your Inbox
Experience email that provides a clean, ad-free, minimalist interface alongside features geared for business and professional use. 

Get started with up to 50 free users.

Zoho Docs                 

Bring your office to Zoho Docs. Store, share and manage all your business files on the cloud. Run your business more efficiently with your 
personalized workspace in the cloud. From documents to images, spreadsheets to presentations, and even your music, movies, and pictures, 
carry all your files with you wherever you go. With everything stored in a centralized location, now you can conveniently share your files with 
your friends and colleagues.           
                 
Zoho Projects                            
Project management, as effective as it gets. 
Plan, track, and collaborate using the preferred project management software of more than a million businesses. 
Plan your project activities, assign work, manage resources and collaborate with your team better to 
get things done on time.       

Finance

Human Resources