One Class One Channel: Making education accessible to all

Factors such as poor connectivity, unavailability of gadgets, and lack of digital learning in vernacular have kept students away from formal learning in times of pandemic. In the union budget 2022, the government has taken some concrete measures to provide quality education to students through multiple platforms. The measures include fibre-based internet connection to every village by 2022 and expand the One Class, One Channel’ programme to cover 200 DTH channels and grades 1-12. In addition to this, the government wants to open digital university to provide quality education to students from weaker socio-economic backgrounds to pursue higher studies without incurring huge costs or hardship.

What edtech platforms should relook?

Providing educational content in vernacular languages is a highly untapped market for edtech. The medium of teaching on edtech platforms being English has prevented the edtech players from serving the students of rural India. With the government now taking steps for a robust internet network edtech platforms should develop and provide educational content in vernacular language. Further, with the development of the digital university and channel programmes the edtech players with their vernacular education content can partner with several state governments and India’s largest socially responsible corporations.

Gaming will become mainstream in 2022

Online gaming is soon to become a mainstream form of entertainment, with more gamers birthing from tier-II and III cities. According to a study by Mobile Premier League, small towns have more than 100% to up to 200% growth in online gamers, which talks about its booming market in India. With the task force announcement by the union budget, the gaming ecosystem will open new avenues of employment for gamers, IT, and computer engineers. In addition to this, the online gaming ecosystem will evolve into various business models, Non-fungible token (NFT) virtual avatars, in-game items/rewards, etc, and expect more online gamers to shift from free-to-play to paying-to-play, in-game purchases, and skill gaming. This will drive industry players to develop new games for users based on traditional games and Indian themes and establish a strong presence with a foothold in the domestic and global market.

New initiatives and policies introduced by the union budget 2022

• Drone Shakti: The union budget has welcomed the usage of drones particularly in agriculture where the drones will play a role in crop assessment, digitisation of land records, spraying of insecticides, and nutrients. The startups will be promoted to facilitate drone-as-a-service through varied applications. In ITIs across India, the required courses for drone skilling will be undertaken. The government recognises geospatial systems and drones as the sunshine sector as they have immense potential to assist sustainable development at scale and modernise the industry and will simultaneously create employment opportunities for youth.

• A boost to gaming and animation: A pause on outdoor activities in the pandemic has made individuals especially the GenZ inclination towards gaming. According to a KPMG report, the gaming sector in India will become $ 3.9 billion by 2025. The union budget this year has realised the potential in animation, visual effects, gaming, and comic sector to an open task force to build domestic capacity for serving both national and global markets. 

• Prioritising mental health: Recognising mental health a priority, the Finance Minister has announced a National Tele Mental Health programme to give better access to quality mental health counselling and care services. This initiative will include a network of 23 tele-mental health centres of excellence, with NIMHANS being the nodal centre and the International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIITB) providing technical support. The platform will provide counselling and care using standard, evidence-based, culturally appropriate tools and will enhance access to quality, standardised and free 24 X 7 mental health services to people. It will help to connect various mental health care services, the health, and wellness centres under Ayushman Bharat as well as with the e-Sanjeevani system.

• The battery swapping policy for EV: Finance Minister has announced to roll out a new EV policy on battery swapping with interoperability standards. With this new battery swapping policy owners of electric vehicles will be able to exchange their drained batteries with charged ones at designated stations easing the use of such vehicles and reducing the time to charge. Due to the space constraints in urban areas for setting up charging stations, a battery swapping policy is introduced that will encourage several businesses and startups in the private sector to come up with innovative business models for ‘ battery or energy as a service. This policy will help in managing the space for the expansion of EV charging infrastructure.

This year the union budget has focused on sunrise sectors and has introduced supportive policies for AI, Geospatial Systems and Drones, Genomics and Pharmaceuticals, etc. which will aid in sustainable development at a larger scale. Also, a tax holiday for a year will be helpful for upcoming startups and will provide a much-needed boost.

Expectation of young entrepreneurs from the union budget 2022

Here are some of them

• Alternative MDR or Reintroduce MDR: To democratise digital payment for the masses, the government has abolished MDR which is a fee for fintech and banks for using their platforms for the transaction. But, this is seeming a hard pill to swallow for entrepreneurs, since the abolishment is said to hurt the revenues of homegrown payment service providers. It either expects the union budget to reintroduce MDR or bring an alternative to it. 

• Easy and fast processes: Startup founders are expecting hassle-free loan disbursements, automation of tax and compliance, paperless approvals, and incentives to adopt digital banking practices. 

• Alleviate taxes: For startups and businesses in the manufacturing space, many businesses face weekly power shutdowns. With the price of diesel shooting cost of energy consumption is becoming expensive thereby, increasing the cost of manufacturing. The entrepreneurs are expecting the government to relook at the state level and central taxes.

• Simplifying GST compliance: Startups want GST compliance to be hassle-free and more simplified which will enable more online sellers and small businesses to leverage the potential of e-commerce and contribute to India’s digital economy. 

• EV startups want tax reduction: As the government is increasingly emphasising electric vehicles and building green energy solutions. The EV startup founders are optimistic that the government will announce new initiatives to encourage local EV manufacturing, facilitate easy finance, and develop an innovative EV ecosystem. For consumers to smoothly adapt to EV, the startups want the GST of 5 percent applied on EV to be reduced to 2 percent.

The above are the expectations that India’s startup ecosystem is expecting from the union budget 2022. Simplifying the compliances and relaxation of taxes and reducing the tax slab etc, will create a conducive environment for doing business for startups.

Widening the gates of credit data access for fintech

The RBI has already taken the first step to promote innovation in the Indian fintech companies by allowing them to directly access data from credit information bureau. Earlier access to data from credit information bureau was a privilege that could be enjoyed by specified users and regulated entities like telecom companies, insurance providers, rating agencies, and registered brokers. For assessing the credit profiles of customers, the fintech companies earlier used alternative data from social media footprints and from the bills of telephone and electricity to judge creditworthiness making the process cumbersome. This direct credit data access to millions of Indians will benefit the firms in the below way:

• Take better credit decisions. 
• Several banks collaborate with fintech firms for the disbursal of loans digitally, therefore access to data will help banks make informed decisions while underwriting the credit. 
• Access to credit data will help these firms to develop tailor-made products for customers that require less documentation and lower interest rates. 

New criteria is a challenge

RBI’s decision of widening the doors for data access might benefit a few fintech companies. Only those firms will be eligible to have access to data that are Indian-owned with diversified ownership. It is a major hurdle since the majority of the fintech firms in India are foreign VC/ PE funded and may not match the ownership criteria. The other criteria involves only those fintech firms to be eligible to process information to support regulated lending entities such as banks and financial institutions, whose net worth is Rs 2 crore.  The reason to favour Indian-owned companies is to follow local data governance and compliance.

Cybersecurity is mandatory

With increasing data leaks, platform downtimes, and information theft, RBI has mandated the firms to have a certification from CISA ( Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) and to have robust data protection in place, since data is the backbone for this industry. It is necessary to develop a strong mechanism to protect data and invest more in such mechanisms to evade cyberattacks in the future and cement people’s beliefs in financial technology processes. 

What lies ahead for the community group buying model in grocery?

Not just limited to low prices and heavy discounts, the community buying model can be a good revenue churner for resellers in the small cities who are looking for alternate sources of income in turn bringing in more customers. The resellers on the Otipy platform on average earn a commission of Rs 2500-3000 and the top 20 percent of them make more than Rs 15000 per month. Besides, increasing smartphone usage and cheaper data plans, the community buying model in India will thrive on trust and establish a quick and direct interaction between buyers and sellers replicating the experience of traditional offline commerce also open to negotiation.

Below is the list of digital touchpoints that businesses need to keep in mind.

Must have consumer digital touchpoints required to build in a digital business

• The product catalogue

Hardly any consumer before using a product reads a catalogue and if the product fails to function the blame goes to the quality and results in an angered customer giving bad reviews largely impacting the prospective buyers of that brand. To avoid such consumer criticism, digital brands should ensure that the customers before making a purchase understand a product functioning for which the brands need to provide an authentic product usage visual demonstration at the point of purchase.

• Chatbots, do you understand my problems?

To offer customers a swift and prompt customer care service 24X7, digital businesses became fond of implementing chatbots and it has worked wonders. But, an evolving customer base comes with a unique set of problems that at times chatbot might be unable to answer the queries, no matter how much we create multiple combinations of questions and answers for the chatbot. Also, with digital businesses burgeoning into tier-II and tier-III cities businesses need to make their technology in customer service more inclusive and give them a comfortable experience.

• Telling your tale through social media

Today, if a business is not on social media, its credibility is questioned. Businesses should leverage social media platforms to provide relevant content or industry information that will establish a reputation with the customer base. Content on helpful tips will help increase the reach of the brand.

• Apps or website

Smartphones becoming absolutely handy, apps and website become an essential digital consumer touchpoint to attract consumers and offer them a seamless navigation experience. The app or website of a business should be easily viewable on a range of devices, otherwise the business is bound to lose customers.

By developing a digital touchpoint strategy, businesses can entice customers and they have the best shopping experience from their online store and build a loyal consumer base.

Top trends in 2022 for the Indian footwear industry 

Here are the trends that will be a fillip to the Indian footwear industry in 2022. 

• Let the toes shine: With new cases of Omicron rising and the possibility of a new third wave of covid, it might be possible that the outdoor movement is restricted. The preference for open or comfortable footwear such as sandals and slippers will increase.

• Let us lead an active lifestyle: With gyms and sports activities on a halt, people have taken up running and jogging to maintain a healthy lifestyle. E-commerce platform Flipkart has witnessed a sales spike in athletic shoes upto 1.5 times compared to pre-covid times and a 20 percent increase in sales from July to August. 

• Push of Make in India: The government wants to make the Indian economy a self-reliant one and is emphasising local manufacturing under the ‘Make in India’ initiative. India’s footwear and leather industry is always an export-oriented one to further become the export hub, the government has announced a $364 million incentive package for the leather and footwear industry. 

• Going Omnichannel: Footwear brands are opting for omnichannel sales and bringing synchronisation across all sales channels to minimise operational complexities and cater to customer needs easily. Bata, whose digital channels earlier contributed 6-7 percent to its sales has rolled out Bata Chat Shop on WhatsApp that covers 600 of its stores across India where customers can chat with their neighbourhood stores to order products. For offline it had introduced ‘ Bata-on-Wheels’, a mobile shoe store to enhance its omnichannel presence. 

• Automation: Creating a pair of shoes requires tremendous manual labour especially in sewing and making the upper part of the shoe which takes a minimum of 18 months from forecast to delivery. As the third wave approaches, the government might again put restrictions that businesses need to operate with 50 percent capacity. By implementing automation in production, businesses can benefit from lesser manpower and match up with the demand and supply. 

The Indian footwear industry in 2021 has suffered from lockdown, but with the increased pace of vaccination, likely, the organisations will again return to the conventional work-from-office that will again fuel the demand for footwear. 

The vegan brands that are witnessing an uptick in demand

Plum an online cosmetic vegan brand founded in 2014, receives over 10,000 shipments every month and has over 35 SKUs ranging from Rs 335 to Rs 575, and monthly adds 4000 new customers every month.

Vegan Bites – a vegan tiffin service based out of Mumbai delivers 250 tiffins across the city everyday and has an annual turnover of Rs 2 crore. Their food is enjoyed by patients suffering from heart ailments and diabetes. 

Vegan dairy i.e. dairy products that do not involve cow or buffalo milk is a boon for the lactose intolerant. Not just that, but vegan milk helps manage a weight that lowers their cholesterol levels, minimises heart risks, and reduces the risk of PCOD in younger women. Vegan milk brands like Urban Platter and GoodMylk are offering unsweetened almond milk, soya milk, coconut milk and peanut curd, vegan butter, vegan mayonnaise respectively. The products are highly demanded since the product is fortified with high protein and gives 40 percent more calcium than regular dairy milk. 

Blush Bee beauty, a brand of ‘clean beauty’ cosmetics that develops beauty products for, faces and eyes completely made of natural ingredients and expects to grow annually by 5 percent in the next five years. 

The future of vegan cosmetics and food in India

There has been an increased emphasis on ethical consumerism that is fuelling the growth of vegan brands be it food or cosmetics. According to data from Market Research Future cruelty-free cosmetics is set to increase 6.1 percent between 2017-2023.

For vegan food brands, though nascent in India but are growing. Customers are looking for alternatives to meat-based products. Consumers are aware of the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, healthy diet, and harmful health effects of consuming red meat for a prolonged period, which will drive vegan behaviour amongst consumers. According to Expert Market Research, the Indian vegan food market is being supported by the growth of the overall global vegan food market, which attained a value of USD 15.4 billion in 2020. The global vegan food market is further expected to grow in the forecast period of 2022-2027 at a CAGR of 26%. 

The road ahead for the D2C businesses in 2022

Here are the top trends 

The rise of the niche categories: The D2C segment has become a competitive segment and has been bringing new and innovative offerings to meet customer’s expectations and bring a point of difference. High disposable incomes and aspiring to lead a better life is giving impetus to customers to try out new products and effectively address their problems. Some of the niche categories include nutrition and wellness, sulphate-free personal care, men’s grooming range, women’s hygiene, eco-friendly and organic products and inclusive fashion. 

Focus on enhancing the mobile apps: Mobile apps of  D2C businesses are the first point of contact and will be a major factor in acquiring customers. With lesser footfalls in physical stores apps will play a pivotal role in offering an immersive, personalised and interactive shopping experience that in turn will retain customers and build a loyal customer base.

Expanding to new consumer cohorts: D2C businesses are increasingly collaborating with micro-influencers who are delivering content in vernacular to penetrate deeper into the lower-tier cities for decent growth as the buying behaviour of consumers in tier-1 cities has reached the saturation point. 

Going Headless : This trend has nothing go to do with humans. Most e-commerce or D2C companies are looking for headless architecture meaning the front-end and the back-end are will be separated, this separation will allow more room for flexibility and endless customisations thereby creating ample opportunities for growth. With the advent of smartwatches and smart devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home online purchases can now be made through such devices that do not have a screen. Keeping this in mind the e-commerce is adapting to headless architecture to enhance existing websites with new features and performance levels. They can operate the storefront with distributed servers irrespective of locations with a simple click.

Go Omnichannel: According to a survey by Accenture 91 percent of the consumers are likely to shop more from brands that have a shelf presence. Brands like Peesafe, Licious, Mamaearth and Wow Skin Science are aggressively extending their presence into the offline channel. 

Lastly, in 2022 the brands are not limiting themselves to online storefronts and are increasingly reaching their presence offline to reach new markets and customers other than the metro cities. Apart, from that, the trends are also towards focussing on sustainable packaging and health-conscious products nudged by the outbreak of the virus.