Smaller enterprises have shown a “big digital shift” to shore up sales in pandemic times, a Crisil survey report said on Thursday.
According to the survey report of firms with revenue less than Rs 25 crore, the adoption of digital sales channels among micro and small enterprises (MSEs) has increased significantly since the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
The survey, conducted in November, was aimed at gauging changes in the level of usage of digital channels including of online aggregators, social media platforms and owned websites – by such entities after the pandemic.
As per the survey, about 60 per cent of the respondents adopting digital selling said it helped them weather the pandemic-induced stress, while the rest said it boosted sales.
“These respondents were also more positive about their near-term business situation compared with those that didn’t take the digital route.
“About 29 per cent of the MSEs surveyed were using digital sales channels such as online aggregators or market places, social media, and mobile marketing before the pandemic struck,” said Bhushan Parekh, Director, Crisil.
“That number has shot up to 53 per cent among small enterprises and 47 per cent among micro enterprises as of November. Despite their limitations, micro enterprises are not very far from small enterprises in digital adoption. Also, many more are now saying they will take the digital route soon.
“This underscores the fact that increasing digitalisation enlarges the footprint of MSEs, helping them tap newer markets and improving their access to credit.”
Among manufacturing sectors, gems and jewellery and textiles showed the most improvement.
Besides, textiles MSEs, too, showed a massive jump of 38 percentage points in adoption of digital channels.
Adoption in pharmaceuticals was unchanged at 29 per cent because of relatively higher offline demand.
Among manufacturers of unbranded food products – including agro-produce processing units such as rice, wheat, and flour millers, and manufacturers of unbranded packaged foods, digital revenues slipped a notch given the localised nature of demand.
In services, realtors and human resources firms showed maximum adoption of digital sales channels.
–IANS
