CAIT to launch BharatEMarket – Indian businesses will have to #InnovateToSurvive in the #PostCOVIDworld!

The Coronavirus pandemic has forced shut down across the nation, in fact, across most of the countries of the globe. The lockdown, though a unavoidable necessity as a preventive measure, has severely dented the Indian retail sector so much so that the retailers have lost ₹5.5 lakh crore in the last 40 days. With the third phase of lockdown having started from 4th May, the situation is not expected to improve soon.

Moreover, with daily wagers having lost their livelihood and the International Labour Organization forecasting of half the world’s workforce, about 1.6 billion people, to face losing jobs due to the pandemic, the retail sector stares nervously at a major downturn. Besides, e-commerce giants have always threatened smaller retailers.

Taking all of it into consideration, the CAIT (The Confederation of All India Traders) launched an e-commerce portal pilot in 6 Indian cities, initially with a limited number of commodities. As the portal received a tremendous response from retailers, distributors and consumers, the CAIT now plans to launch the e-commerce marketplace nationwide.

The mission of the portal, as told by CAIT, is to digitise the end-to-end supply chain for India’s traditional self-organised chain of traders and also integrate into it manufacturers to end consumers to facilitate doorstep deliveries. The portal aims to bring at least 95 per cent of the retail traders from across the nation on board.

With the lockdown exposing flaws of globalisation and highlighting the benefits of conventional shops, in the post-COVID world it presents an right opportunity to Indian businesses which will have to innovate to survive.