As Zoho holds a Zoholics Conference in Bengaluru, it has announced strong growth in India and two new solutions. The first is Zoho IoT, which is now generally available, and is covered in this article. The second is Vikra, a comprehensive seller app on the ONDC network.
The Open Network for Digital Commerce is a private non-profit Section 8 company established by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade of the Government of India to develop open e-commerce.
Sridhar Vembu, CEO and Co-founder of Zoho Corp, commented, “We remain steadfast in our product R&D efforts, with a focus on effectively enhancing our platform through innovating and launching new products like Vikra and Zoho IoT while also integrating AI capabilities across the tech stack. We have steadily advanced on our contextual intelligence vision, applying AI technology to enhance customer experience and offer deeper insights.
“This commitment to continuous improvement is helping us become a preferred partner for large enterprises and government institutions across India. As businesses increasingly seek value from their software solutions and larger organisations aim to reduce bloat, we’re seeing significant growth in India, which has now become our second-largest market.”
Empowering the Digitalisation of India
The ONDC is a tech-based initiative that seeks to drive rapid adoption of eCommerce across India. The country has over 12 million sellers, and yet only around 15,000 of these are using eCommerce platforms. Despite the growth of mobile phones (over 700 million in 2023) and internet connectivity (over 840 million by 2023), eCommerce has been out of reach for many.
ONDC aims to increase the 5% penetration into the retail market that McKinsey estimated in 2019. To help further this aim, Zoho has launched Vikra, a seller app on the ONDC network that it believes is simple, accessible and will empower small businesses to launch eCommerce sites that are frictionless for both sellers and buyers.
Vikra is a low cost option for small businesses that will provide an extended reach for retailers across the country. There is no upfront cost or subscription fee. The platform is scalable, enabling any size of Indian company to take advantage of the platform.
Pricing is based on a seller app fee, which is 1% of the total transaction. Zoho notes that this fee is only an introductory offer but gives no clarity on when or what it will change to. That may depend on the take-up and revenues generated through sales. Hopefully, it can retain the price point indefinitely. Note that this fee will be in addition to any payment platforms such as Paytm, Ola, and Snapdeal.
What does Vikra provide
Using Vikra retailers can create stores in minutes, setting up working hours, delivery radius and other parameters. Multiple stores for larger retailers are also supported. The Inventory management system enables owners to track inventory levels with simple item creation, bulk update of inventory. With also specific preferences for individual items around returns, cancellations, and selling units.
The order management system includes tax-compliant invoicing and automated collaboration through WhatsApp or text messages. Retailers can track orders and manage returns.
Order fulfilment enables retailers to print packing slips and either self-deliver or enable integration with ONDC delivery partners. Customers are provided with real-time updates about delivery status, keeping them informed without additional manual work.
The platform supports settlement reconciliation, with full visibility across all costs of each order. It also provides reports to simplify audits and financial management. Buyers are supported with a smart ticket management platform to manage service issues. This is integrated with SMS and reminders so retailers can keep on top of cases. There is also a chat feature in the app enabling retailers to talk directly to buyers if there is an issue.
While Vikra is not branded as a Zoho App, it is built on the Zoho Platform. That means it will seamlessly integrate with other Zoho applications such as Zoho Books, Zoho Inventory and Zoho Commerce. As retailers become more comfortable with technology, they can further enhance their business by upgrading or adding these applications.
Vikra provides an all-in-one, end-to-end eCommerce application for any businesses across India that might not have digitised their operations. It provides a simple to take the first step. The eCommerce platform will empower retailers, giving them a much wider access to the market. No longer will retailers have to wait for people to come to them. They can access far more people without them having to leave their place of work or home.
T Koshy, MD & CEO of ONDC, said, “Vikra represents the kind of innovation that supports ONDC’s mission to make e-commerce accessible to all. By integrating such advanced solutions from Zoho, we are not just simplifying technology for businesses, we are also opening doors to a vast, inclusive digital economy. This is a step forward in democratizing e-commerce in India, where even the smallest businesses can now thrive in the digital marketplace harnessing the power of technology.”
India, the jewel in the crown
Zoho continues to drive growth in its home nation. In the last year, it has seen 31% customer growth. Vikra may accelerate that further. Initially, the revenues from Vikra will be small. As firms succeed and add Zoho platform applications to their digital architecture, Zoho will see a larger acceleration again.
Zoho has seen applications such as Zoho One, Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, and Zoho People support its growth. Zoho Books and Zoho Workplace are currently the fastest-growing apps. It is seeing greater market penetration in sectors such as IT hardware and related services, financial services, manufacturing, retail, and non-IT professional services.
With its investment in AI, Zoho is also adding more generative AI and Language features to its platform. It has deployed narrow, small, medium and large language models for specific applications across its portfolio. Each of these models has guardrails that ensure customer data is not used for general training but only used for each specific customer to enhance the benefits that AI delivers.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
With Zoho IoT, Zoho has opened up a huge global market for a new application. It already has customers using the solution across the globe, and this is one solution that could quickly gain attention.
The launch of Vikra aligns with the transnational localism ethos. It also helps fulfil the mission of becoming the operating system for business. The aspiration is not about just putting technology into the hands of enterprises but into those firms that have never used technology before.
Vikra is another initiative from Zoho that could well see it become the de facto standard for business in many countries. It will be interesting to see how it is taken up. If successful, will Zoho roll it out to other countries with similar issues, such as some African countries?
