Things The Indian eCommerce Industry Needs To Learn From Jack Ma & Alibaba

E-Commerce is providing a promising platform to sell most of the niche products and it gives varied choices for the customer to choose from the brands and products and basically educates the customer on the features and provides a better reach for the small retailers and big manufacturers and therefore it takes the business to the next level to bridge the people of society with the producers and sellers by being in a comfort zone of oneself and offers convenient shopping

Indian E-Commerce Industry :

The 40% population of India is already into transactions via online platform revolutionizing the Indian economy enhancing the growth of “digital India”. It’s expected to grow by 100$million by sales revenue . In which the fashion and FMCG ( fast moving consumer goods ) are the top preference . . India has the greatest potential of consumer market and hence every nation is coming forward to invest in India to sell their products and to build their brand here . Having said this the Indian market is not just open for the international firms , it also promotes the local startups . The E-commerce industry has become a household name with the frequent usage of online shopping platforms and payment platforms like Flipkart, Snap deal , Amazon , Pay tm and so on .,

To knock it down in E-Commerce being a first Generation Entrepreneur :

For any startup , the foremost aim is to move ahead amidst all hurdles . Jack Ma makes this practically possible by his constant thirst to get the firm going and it’s not the dream to happen just in his society but he foresees it on a global platform . A well formed vision will not have any limitations to expand its aura . Success doesn’t come in overnight , but to make the moment in overnight it takes a lot of effort in the backend to formulate the success plans . Alibaba , was one such startup where I could see the ideas of a layman getting shaped in the continuous process of self evaluation and even after the brand is well established , it still continues to do the same .

Business Environment in India & China :

The Chinese business has lot of restrictions even in its local market as the government has strict eye on the business happening in the nation with close scrutiny and regulations . Whereas in India the government promotes the business in all forms and in fact business people have more freedom to test the market or to form a brand empire on their own as the regulations in democratic country are liberal and are focused on enhancing the entrepreneurial skills and government offers subsidies , grants and supports the firm right from the initial stages . The Limitations met by the startups are very minimal when compared to those met by a nation that favors communism . The political scenario of India is more liberal towards startups and welcomes investment from every part of the world by relaxing the norms on FDI .Having said this India serves as a best platform for the entrepreneurs to showcase their potential and grow in the market .

India offers a friendly environment for startups promoting its establishment right from the ground level with the foundation of SME (Small and Medium Enterprises ) , District level Industries help centers , promoting finance for startups , establishing economic zones and lot more . Having said this Indian entrepreneurs can take up some of the strategies from Alibaba to take business to next level , after all to stay in business it takes the attitude to innovate and learn on a continuous basis .

Inspiring Things To Take From Jack Ma as An Aspiring Entrepreneur :

1 . SIMPLICITY IN BUSINESS :

To keep the plans simple and to sketch out the consecutive alternate plans to promote more transparency and to take a calculated risk in doing business . The plans are to be precise to keep it well informed about the changing trends and to meet the demands of the changing times .

2.MOVE AHEAD NO MATTER WHAT :

The basic quality of the entrepreneur has to face the challenges in the business environment . Alibaba success has got its tribute over its failures and the functional discrepancies . It’s absolutely fine to meet failures but at the end of the day it’s on how well the counter plans are devised to bring in the success and the business collaborations and the ways and means to multiply the business . The vision when shared will multiply the profits.

3. B2B STRUCTURE :

Alibaba is based on B2B structure rather than the most successful B2C structure of the western e-commerce giant like Amazon . The business plan has to be carried out according to the nation’s business environment as it plays a critical role in the success of the plan . In China the B2B model of Jack Ma proved to be a huge success as the Chinese retailers witnessed a space for themselves in the online platform to run their business which was not booming in the brick and mortar set up . Alibaba took a calculated risk being reluctant in providing storage warehousing facilities and rather built a rapport among the tradesmen . In India the compatibility of the B2B model has to be taken into test as India is already witnessing a huge success in B2C model followed by the Flipkart , Amazon , Snapdeal etc.,

4. EXCHANGE OF GOODS :

The availability of goods has to be taken into consideration while serving the customers in online platform as orders pour in from all parts of the country and thus has to have a very good network of logistics and supply chain to promote quick delivery and quality products . It will be really astonishing if the Indian startups can pool the products made in India and distribute it widely as this will promote the local economy and the subsidies and grants got via this will help the business to grow . The other way to pool the materials is to purchase it in bulk from a big manufacturer either locally or internationally and then to decentralize the distribution centers to promote the availability of the goods .

On this note Alibaba concentrated more on pooling the locally made products and making it available across the length and breadth of China and hence the local traders were benefited by large and yearned goodwill and hence support the vision of Alibaba . Though Alibaba plans on a global platform Jack Ma is trying to promote the goods made in China on wider note bringing in more revenue for the business and the continued support from the local business to dominate the business environment .

5. DUMMY TEST :

Whenever a product is designed , be open to test the product by yourself to know the best compatibility of the product in the terms of layman . Jack Ma runs the dummy test by himself as he is a non tech savvy guy who goes by the simple knowledge of layman in using technology . The prime aim is to cater to the customers and the customers are from all spheres both educated and uneducated.

6. CATERING TO THE MOBILE USERS :

The online users are not just the one who operates in the computers , the growth of mobile phone industry has made it big allowing the access of online stores from mobile and also the mobile payments to promote the transfer of cash at fingertip . The startup must think in a way to utilize the best available option to foster the easy payments and the designing of user friendly applications to ease out the shopping experience . Alibaba has its own cloud space called Alicloud and the Alipay to foster online payment .

7. COME UP WITH SUBSCRIPTION BASED MODELS :

The future of online industry is to be tamed by the subscription based models to retain the suppliers and customers by providing customer benefits and also supplier benefits . Owing to the surge in ecommerce more startups and big players are expected to try their luck in ecommerce and hence to stand out of the crowd the extra edge benefits are to be given to retain the existing suppliers and customers . The benefits can be offering free space for promoting goods for the manufacturers , middlemen services , enhancing the credit facilities , scrutinizing the existence of the standard branded products , to offer easy purchase schemes for the customers .

The Future Of Digitalization :

Looking up to Alibaba , India start ups can focus more on keeping the ideas open and convincing for the traders to make them involved in online platform , to bring the small retailers in online by giving them a brand which is not possible in the brick mortar shop . The E-commerce Industry is not just benefitting the manufacturers and the retailers but in the process it adds value to the financial sector of the nation and revolutionize the economy of the nation .

The digital era is yet to witness the grabbing of cloud space by startups too as the business is taking a shape of “one touch world ” . It all needs the swift way of operations as it has to cater beyond the local boundaries and to make a hold for itself in the business world to reach wide areas and to meet out the needs of the growing population that is technologically more advanced than what it was a decade ago and hence to catch up with the vibrant demography startups need to do big in the E-commerce . With more than 60% internet users India can be a thriving market and can bring up more promising brands which promotes the delivery of standardized goods and the quality check is really vital to build the brand image and goodwill . Jack Ma is highly vigilant when it comes to delivering the quality as the brand is all about delivering the best to retain the market.

Looking Forward :

Apart from the basics of entrepreneurship that we learn from books , Jack Ma is special in a way that he dare to take in the risks and never backed off from his vision and formulated cordial employer-employee relationship and tries to retain the employee at all cost . “Opportunity dances with those who are ready to dance on the dance floor ” having said this it doesn’t need dancing shoes or ball room dress to dance but all it takes is the never ending vision to dance with the opportunity and Jack Ma stood by this, looking forward for promising startups in the Indian ecommerce . Fingers crossed !