GoFrugal Launches Collaborative Commerce For MSMEs
This week GoFrugal announced the launch of its ‘Easy suite’ of products which include RetailEasy, ServeEasy, and ManageEasy for Retail, Restaurant and Distribution businesses respectively. From the corner Kirana store to the bigger chain of grocery stores to restaurants their ERP solution offers for everyone for as low as Rs.500 per month.
MSME Segment in India
Research reports indicate that the Indian retail industry is estimated to be over $700 billion from over 14 million retailers. Of this, the MSME segment contributes 60-90% of the market requirements.
Retail Disruption
While retail businesses are in the cusp of disruption, the restaurant industry is closely catching up with advancing technology. Traditional restaurants are witnessing a shift in consumer behaviour with the rise of cloud kitchen and online delivery platforms. Consumers expect personalized experiences, product availability and standard services not only in the physical store but also on all channels including e-commerce platforms and market places. Due to evolving customer behaviour and changing industry landscape, MSMEs can no longer operate in a silo; they have to connect and collaborate across channels using ERP solutions. This collaborative commerce and advance ERP solution will help convert their business data into actionable insights. Traditional MSME retail, restaurant and distribution businesses should transform themselves at the earliest or be forced to close down their business.
During this transition, traditional MSME retail and restaurant businesses face challenges to design, evaluate and choose the right solution. They can neither afford consultants nor go for proven global solution providers without knowing the outcome of the same. They are in need of a solution that they can experience before they can buy and confidently grow their business.
The ERP Advantage
Cloud-based ERP solutions can be empowering due to the affordability factor and the connectivity and collaborativeness it offers. According to GoFrugal it aims to empower neighbourhood small stores and restaurants to collaborate with the ecosystem to focus on market expansion and large customer acquisition. They say they intend to break the misconception that traditional retail and small restaurant businesses need to spend more on expensive software, trained talent, expensive up-gradation, maintenance and security issues to go digital. They offer a quick-to-implement, easy-to-use, intelligent, affordable, integrated solution, one that does not require technical expertise to implement and integrate with marketplaces, e-commerce, payment, and banks.
‘The owners of physical-only stores realize that they will be obsolete in the current digital era. They are all eager to serve their customers in the channels of their choice ( Omnichannel ) and to make it happen, they are looking for the right technology partner. To win in the highly competitive market, the MSMEs need a solution that will help them run their business with the least skills, minimum staff, 100% accuracy and reliability. With online-to-offline (O2O) collaborative business model retail, restaurant and distribution businesses can increase their customer acquisition by 15-20%’ says, Kumar Vembu, CEO and Founder of GOFRUGAL.
Rajagopalan, CEO of Retailers Association of India, said, “The traditional retail market, to co-exist with the modern trade, are undergoing an identity shift to look modern and vibrant. However, technology has never been affordable or user-friendly for them to adopt. I believe technology players like GoFrugal with their differentiated easy to use product suite can help millions of small merchants across India to strengthen and grow their business. I hope, we can see more Indian traders collaborating with the Amazons of India and expand their business operations”
