How Small Businesses are Overcoming the Lull to Continue Growing In the face of the rapid digital revolution and the slowdown in the economy, businesses must be creative and open to adapt

The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector is significant for generating new jobs and is frequently referred to as the pillar of the economy. Additionally, this industry creates low-cost employment options in rural areas, which aids in reducing the regional imbalance in the economy.

The sector is significantly impacted by external factors, and was affected by COVID-19, just as all aspects of the economy, but MSMEs have been particularly badly hit because of supply-side disruption and reduced demand.

However, large companies report significant e-commerce growth despite the financial crisis. Brands from all over the world had to use online channels of commerce to stay profitable. Even well-established traditional businesses realized they had to sell online in order to survive the global financial crisis.

In the face of the rapid digital revolution and the slowdown in the economy, businesses must be creative and open to adapt. In this regard, some of the technologies that will be crucial in fostering the transformation of e-commerce companies include: -

Customized Machine Learning Solutions are advantageous to businesses that provide knowledgeable, ready-to-use solutions to address specialised and unique difficulties. To enhance e-commerce photos, identify e-commerce fraud, create content automatically, and provide individualised ideas, machine learning APIs will be employed.

Due to an increase in solutions that aid in the development of the complete data stack, from data collection and monitoring to data storage and from analytical dashboards to machine learning models, full stack data platforms will become more common as businesses' data stacks change.

By using automated ideas and actions, automated creative production, and experimental testing to optimise digital advertising across a range of platforms, including Facebook, advertising optimization can help organisations increase their advertising ROI at scale.

MSMEs are also regularizing price adjustments and raising prices as a regular part of one's company plan to stay alive despite the economic difficulties. Cash savings could see a large loss in purchasing power as inflation increases. This implies that having a lot of liquid cash on hand could be dangerous. Businesses are thinking about investing that money to stay ahead of the market.

Effective inventory management is a different measure that MSMEs are considering. Stocking up on goods and/or raw materials before suppliers' prices rise is one way to battle inflation. Businesses avoid putting their cash reserves in risk when making purchases at the same time.

E-commerce has expanded globally since 2020 at an unheard-of rate. In the race, India wasn't far behind. In actuality, the Indian e-commerce market has grown at one of the quickest rates in the world, and has seen success. According to reports, India's e-commerce industry would have increased by 84 percent between 2020 and 2025. According to industry estimates, online sales now make up 8% of all retail sales in India, up from 3.7% prior to the impact of Covid-19.

A complement to the existence of physical stores is thought to be provided by online platforms. Since it is more practical, people like to have the choice of selecting between offline and online outlets. According to reports, the presence of both channels has increased average shopping rates by 35%. Creating an online store is a smart move to stay competitive and track the company's e-commerce finances. Although inflation cannot be avoided and presents particular difficulties for owners of small businesses, it need not be the be-all and end-all for everyone. MSMEs are surviving the economic downturn in spite of the challenges.