Desi 'lala' to go digital as e-commerce threat looms

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) will develop an e-commerce platform called 'e-lala' on a nationwide basis to help small traders

Faced with competition from a growing array of e-commerce retailers, the traditional Indian lala – as small grocers and shopkeepers are called colloquially in Hindi – is looking for a digital upgrade. 
 
At a recently-concluded national meeting in Nagpur, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has decided to develop a portal called, what else – e-lala -- on a nationwide basis to help small traders counter the onslaught of online retailers.

Harish Garg, national  secretary and  president  of  the Chandigarh chapter of CAIT, says the new portal will be up and running in three months.
 

Garg, who is a on the core committee formed to conceptualise and execute the e-lala site, conceded that e-commerce is the mode of future business. “It has been felt that the majority of traders are not technologically savvy,” Garg said. “Sitting in small towns, they don’t have the means to adopt the new changes,”

The committee is in discussions with technology companies to evaluate the cost of setting up and maintaining the site.
The committee’s final draft will be ready in three months, CAIT’s national secretary general Praveen Khandelwal told Business Standard.
 
“The Indian traders still prefer to do business in traditional manner with bahi-khata (ledgers), this attitude has given an advantage to online companies to capture the Indian market,” he said, adding that the loss of business to Indian traders had prompted CAIT’s move to launch its own business. Garg is already in talks with Chandigarh-based traders regarding the idea. 
 
As currently envisaged, the portal will require traders to register themselves with it as sellers, while consumers will have the choice of buying directly from anyone they want without any intermediaries. The membership will be on an invitation-basis with the help of trade associations across India. CAIT, which has a membership of almost 20,00 trade federations and associations representing 6 crore retailers, is in the process of identifying business establishments to join the portal. The digital push will initially be funded through membership fee, which is yet to be decided, and advertisement revenue. 

 
“Presently the online companies are pocketing 7-25 per cent profit which is burdening the consumers.  But the e-lala portal will end the commission part and the consumers will get items at the cheaper rates,” Garg said.
 
He said that the portal will also ensure quality as consumers will know that the traders are local. Like larger e-commerce retailers, buyers will also have the option to return the items in case they are not satisfied but unlike the larger players, there will no terms and conditions to deal with while returning a product, Garg said.
 
The priority will be to source and deliver products from the local market as it is cost-effective but in case of non-availability, it can be even shipped from the nearest town. The shipment cost will be included in the price of product. The buyer can also visit the retailer in person if s/he wants to physically assess the product before buying, said Khandelwal.

“We are trying to create a direct interface between buyer and seller which is not offered by the existing portals,” he said.