Since 8th November 2016, the only thing that has brought the whole nation on one platform after cricket is demonetization. It remains a debatable affair whether the move is really going to combat counterfeit of money or it will leave the whole nation in a huge mess.
On one hand we talk about cashless economy and on the other hand when such a move has been initiated, it has left vast section of the nation aghast; prime reason for the same is lack of banks in the tier-II and tier-III cities and illiteracy which leave massive chunk of our society uneducated and alien to the use of digital economy. Amidst all this, one section of industry who have jointly hail this decision are the e-commerce companies who are welcoming this decision with open arms. Companies like Flipkart, Shopclues, Snapdeal, Ola, CC Avenues, Oyo Rooms and 1mg Technologies came together on the platform and jointly appreciated this decision.
Although they agree that there has been a drop in the cash on the delivery side of the business but it surely has paved the way for the growth of the digital economy. As per the co-founder of Flipkart Mr. Sachin Bansal, demonetization was a temporary move to get more customer base, the company always wanted to stress on the online payment mode. Even Mr, Kunal Bahl, the founder of SnapDeal also shares the same vibe. Digital economy is not only easy to track but also reduces the unnecessary pressure on maintaining logistics.
Demonetization - mixed bag of profit and loss
Demonetization has come as a mixed bag of benefits and losses, for example, Shopclues witnessed a drop of 30% in the CoD order placement while they saw a rise of 15%-20% in the online payment mode of order placement. In order to cope up with the slump due to demonetization many e-commerce biggies have come up with inventive methods like wallet on delivery by SnapDeal, extra 10% discount on online payment; such methods are a way to motivate people towards using the online medium of transaction and reduce the fear.
Although these e-commerce companies jointly accept the fact that demonetization has initially slowed down their business but at the same, they agree that this move will surely nurture the online economy ecosystem.
Takeaways
On one hand, where we are claiming the decision to come as a shock to most of the people, to some extent, the poor network of banks and ATMs are responsible for increasing the trouble for people. It's no denial that apart from metros; people in tier II and tier III cities are facing the problem of lack of cash, illiteracy and unawareness have added to the heat which has adversely affected not only the day-to-day life of people but, is also affecting the business where these people play the role of active buyers.
We have a long way to when it comes to the digital economy and online payment mode. The rise of e-commerce business and inclination of people towards online buying is a step towards nation's digitization where online payment has to fight the battle of all odds and come up as a survivor.