When Shopkeepers Help You Tap ‘Buy’
Indian startups give rural stores a cut to sell to villagers via tablets
An IPay in-store tablet.
Source: IPayThis article is for subscribers only.
Since 2013, at least $8.6 billion has poured into Indian e-commerce companies. The slice of the population that’s ever shopped online: 4 percent. As the country’s leading Internet bazaars—Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Amazon India—hawk wares to the urban, English-speaking middle class, they’re all but ignoring the 510 million working-age adults living in rural areas.
“These people don’t trust an app or a website” even if they have a phone, says Krishna Lakamsani, founder of e-commerce startup IPay. “They will only buy from someone they know and trust.” That’s why IPay and rival StoreKing are recruiting local shopkeepers to sell online goods in their stores in exchange for commissions.