Confluence of digital and retail in societies like India is creating opportunities for old & new to not only co-exist but to thrive. Specifically, though e-commerce and mall stores have long been blamed for demise of mom & pop/ family owned / small neighbourhood shops across the world, we actually can leverage power of digital technology to help neighbourhood market thrive through business model innovation. Just like the so-called dark kitchens have enabled strong growth in Food delivery market in India - urban or otherwise, we hypothesize creative Apps in the retail space will propel local small businesses in the areas of grocery and daily needs...
We believe three elements are key for enabling this new wave in e-retail… access (stores), digitalization and a bridge to connect the consumer with the store.