How E-Commerce Can Play An Integral Role In Making India Self-Reliant In The Post-Covid World

With the introduction of the concept of Aatmanirbhar Bharat by Prime Minister Mr Modi last year, self-reliance has been a part of public discourse. Various thought leaders have emphasized the term and people's representatives, and a lot of discussions and online conferences have taken place since then. The Indian government has tried banning various Chinese products to support its "Make In India" initiative for the greater good of the nation.

But the current pandemic situation and the ongoing financial distress in the Indian economy has negatively impacted the spending abilities of Indian households. We had assumed a V-shaped recovery after the 1^st wave of the pandemic, but the ongoing 2^nd wave and a likely chance of a 3^rd wave have further deteriorated any chance of quick recovery. In such a scenario where we don't have enough to spend, it is less likely that the economy is going to get any boost. Also, the government doesn't have enough resources to keep giving financial assistance to all the major sectors every year. As a result, businesses have been severely impacted, job markets have shrunk, and the overall economy is in distress.

 The pandemic situation that suddenly caused havoc for millions of working-class Indians last year has forced all of us to re-think our work and career strategy. Apart from having a regular job, we also need to build an alternate source of income with less effort and more output. Print-on-demand e-commerce using dropshipping can always be that alternate income source to save us from situations like these.

 E-commerce has a true potential to contribute towards making India self-reliant. With a population of around half a billion just in the US, the UK and Australia, where people have deeper pockets and higher spending habits, selling daily use quality products to these nations alone can be a high revenue business.

E-commerce has various models, but the most effective one is the dropshipping of the print on demand items as it doesn't need inventory, delivery hassles or a huge investment. Thus, a business only has to design the product, acquire and maintain customers while production and delivery can be managed by their fulfilment partners and that too on a per order basis. The major source of revenue is from online ads run over various social media platforms.

 Many people from India have found massive success with the dropshipping based e-commerce model. The idea is so revolutionary that anyone with access to a computer and internet connection can learn online marketing and start this e-com business. We know that money makes money. So, the most important part of any business is an investment usually high in traditional businesses. But e-commerce using print on demand and drop shipping has very low investment, and if worked smartly, it can yield a 15-20% profit margin. Also, the skills like online advertisement and marketing, designing, etc., are high-income skills that can also be used for consulting or bringing business for other brands. So, even if one doesn't become successful running an e-commerce store, they can always sell these skillsets and earn a decent living.

 Thus, international dropshipping based e-commerce has the true potential to become the primary or a secondary source of income for many Indians, and in turn, drive the nation's economy.

 This article is written by Nishkarsh Sharma , an e-com entrepreneur and Co-Founder, Digital Dukaandaar.