An opportunity for MSMEs to sell produce
VODAFONE’s Head of Brands, Marketing and Digital, Saileshni Chand says 84 per cent of merchants who use their online marketplace, VitiKart, are micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
She said VitiKart has 106 merchants and 89 of whom are MSMEs, with the latest inclusion being that of locally-owned spice producer, processor, and manufacturer, Zonah United.
“Large enterprises are relatively smaller but the bigger merchants in our lists are the small, small entrepreneurs because this is something that our efforts have been put into place, that we actually promote them,” Ms Chand said.
“Some of our small businesses, they’re not tech savvy. They don’t know how to operate online but people choose to shop online from the comfort of their homes or offices, just to browse through the products that is in the marketplace.
“So, this is an opportunity for them to actually come on board, our small MSMEs as well.
“It got to an extent where we ended up selling dried fish as well for one merchant because they couldn’t find a platform. We went that hard yard to make sure that our merchants are actually getting the return when coming on board.”
Ms Chand said they were working closely with government to promote MSMEs and their businesses.
“It’s an avenue and opportunity to actually give back to the community and assist those small, small shop owners to actually sell their produce. There could have been something creative that they were doing, maybe the baskets that they were selling.”
She said VitiKart was an opportunity for MSMEs to sell their produce on another platform aside from the traditional ones they use.