Multiple product ordering apps on a storekeeper's phone arranged at a grocery store, known as a kirana, in Bengaluru, India, in this June 21 2021 file photo. Picture: BLOOMBERG/DHIRAJ SINGH
But kiranas remain an integral part of retailing in India — accounting for 90% of the country’s consumer purchases, they helped the nation’s 1.3-billion people stock up on essentials during a devastating coronavirus wave in April and May. And the tiny stores are emerging as key partners for Amazon, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, and Walmart’s Flipkart online unit as they seek to dominate the lucrative $1-trillion Indian retail market.
Shopkeepers who once had no more than a calculator and a telephone to handle business now use apps supplied by the e-commerce giants to replenish stock, manage inventory, and cater to customers. The change is evident at Bhoganatham’s shop. On his 12cm-display smartphone, almost a dozen apps from Reliance’s JioMart, Amazon, and many start-ups vie for his business.
After losing out in China to home-grown behemoths such as Alibaba, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has made India the centrepiece of his ambitions for global growth. He has pledged to invest $6.5bn there. Meanwhile, Walmart paid $16bn in 2018 to acquire popular Indian e-commerce player Flipkart and has since ploughed billions more into the country.
Start-ups such as Jumbotail, Khatabook, ShopX, and Udaan, which do everything from delivering wholesale supplies to offering inventory-management technology to extending credit, are part of this retail mosaic. The segment is so hot that entrepreneurs have coined a name for it: kirana tech. The courtship between the e-commerce giants and the kiranas has not always been smooth. For years shop owners have been wary of Amazon and Walmart, accusing them of threatening the livelihoods of small online and offline sellers. As recently as April, an association of small merchants across India protested against the two big US-based retailers for alleged unfair trade practices.