The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Andhra Pradesh chairman, Neeraj Sarda has said that the organisation has been helping to rebuild and rebound the MSMEs in view of the pandemic. 

CII and Amazon India organised a session on Enabling Andhra Pradesh’s MSMEs to sell on e-commerce on Friday through virtual mode. The focus of the programme is to reach out to the MSMEs of the state and enable offline retailers and small store owners to leverage the benefit of E-commerce. 

The changing customer preferences with digital-first behaviour built during the lockdown is still visible in the post-pandemic era. This has made it more important for the small store owners to build a digital presence so they can sell to customers shopping online. The programme enables such  businesses to benefit from E-commerce. 

Neeraj further said that CII has been supporting MSMEs through its various initiatives directed towards capacity building, skilling & training and business development, it has also been their voice spanning across sectors and locations along the length and breadth of India as a staunch advocate of MSME empowerment and development. The Government of Andhra Pradesh’s Commerce and Export Promotion, Joint Director, Mr. G Srinivasa Rao, said that E-platform would enable MSME to enhance their market across the world. 

Amazon India Director, Kshitij Jain, in his address, said, “We strongly believe that Amazon's Local Shops program can play a big role in digitally enabling lakhs of offline retailers in Andhra Pradesh and across India to come online and contribute to a digital economy.

It provides an avenue to dream bigger and provides impetus to create string local, national and global brands.” The session also gave merchants a platform to share their experience, especially during the pandemic, and how digital platforms like Amazon have played a key role in enabling them to not just survive but thrive by tapping into Amazon’s global network. 

In the past, e-commerce giant Amazon and the  Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to bring the benefits of e-commerce to micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in 10 states across India. 

Amazon.on, American multinational technology company, in association with the CII is closely working with the Ministry of MSME to enable millions of small enterprises across these states to leverage technology to reach customers in India and globally. Earlier, the technology company made three announcements for future initiatives - digitizing 10 million MSMEs; enabling $10 billion in e-commerce exports, and creating 1 million jobs – by 2025. 

MSME businesses have benefited from the advent of e-commerce and also provides small businesses access to markets and market information. Selling through e-commerce also does not require MSMEs to start with large volumes, and businesses can start small and test their markets before deep diving. The other beneficiary of E-commerce has been the consumer.

Even though Indian consumers may continue to buy from all formats of retail, the convenience of e-commerce and doorstep delivery of goods and services are attractive propositions, especially under current circumstances, when people are apprehensive to venture outside