Amid the breeze of festival season, the manufactures and retailers are ready to meet the demands of the large consumer-base in India.
Preparations are high with big facilities filling up their stocks while the e-commerce platforms coming up with lucrative deals.
Since the festivities mark a large participation of small players as well contributing with unique and easy-to-go products. Not only the physical presence, but these players are also aggressively exploring the online platform for their business.
A tale of small business
Ujjwal Kapoor started his journey from a small village near Indore. Learning business basics from his father, who owned a small retail shop, Kapoor always kept sight of his goal and continued to strive towards it.
Amid obstacles like limited market network, and a lack of financial support, he expanded his business by trading agri commodities and multiple local and national brands of Aata and Maida.
During the 2021 Diwali season he lost a wheat auction from FCI due to insufficient financial resources. This was particularly challenging as commodity demand surged during festive seasons, making it difficult for him to meet market demands.
In an interaction, Kapoor told that he partnered with Ayekart’s demand aggregation platform giving him access to a much larger network of buyers and suppliers while facilitating easy access to trade credit.
The support was instrumental for him as he told that during the 2022 Diwali season, he secured the necessary trade credit to purchase commodities at competitive rates, successfully fulfilling the heightened demand.
A 20-25% increase in demand from business partners anticipated
Speaking on the preparations for the festive season, Debarshi Dutta, CEO & Co-founder at Ayekart anticipated a 20-25% increase in demand from business partners.
“To meet this surge, we have strengthened our financial support in collaboration with our partners, ensuring that MSMEs can efficiently manage it with the help of our technology-driven supply chain solutions,” he said.
Ayekart is not just a business partner but a growth enabler for MSMEs, providing them with market linkages and backward supplies, thus fostering resilience and success, the CEO added.
Nirav Choksi, CEO & Co-founder at CredAble said, “Given how consumers tend to spend more during festive seasons, businesses in every sector fine-tune their strategies and stock up on inventory, anticipating a quantum leap in sales figures.”
“Understanding the compounding challenges faced by MSMEs during these seasonal demand spikes, we’ve developed comprehensive digital financial solutions that cater to today’s business needs. Whether it’s small-ticket-sized loans or tailor-made working capital products, our platform-driven solutions grant effortless access to credit and provide a holistic financial perspective that equips MSMEs for the bustling season ahead,” he added.
Talking on the tech aspect of the company, Choksi said utilising advanced AI, ML tools, and cutting-edge risk modeling techniques, we significantly expedite digital underwriting, streamlining the lending experience for MSMEs.
“By offering collateral-free business loans in minutes through a digitised, paperless process, we enable MSMEs to address their day-to-day operations and cash flow requirements seamlessly during the festive season and beyond,” he mentioned.
“MSMEs are leaving no stone unturned for this festive season. They are pulling out all the stops, whether it is stocking up inventory or increasing their production schedule, MSMEs are gearing up to capitalize on the opportunity effectively,” said Hardika Shah, Founder & CEO, Kinara Capital.
“The heightened rate of activity is having a ripple effect on the demand for business credit as well. At Kinara Capital, in comparison to last year, the loan enquiries in recent months have shot up by 150%. Similarly the disbursement is also at a higher rate, there is a 11% month-on-month rise in disbursement. The rise has been most significant for short-term loans,” he added.
Talking further on the sectoral requirements, Shah mentioned that component manufacturers catering to consumer durables as well as automobile industries and textiles are the leading sub-sectors driving the demand for business loans.
Stock purchase, procurement of raw materials, business premises renovation etc are the reasons that they need credit for. As consumer spending is projected to rise further in the upcoming months, the demand and disbursement is also expected to shoot up, he said.
“We are anticipating a 20% Y-o-Y rise in disbursement this festive season.”