These tech firms are taking the e-commerce battle to India's hinterlands

How social commerce firms are democratising e-retail by tapping community group buyers from tier-2 and smaller towns across India

Like anybody else in the small town of Dausa in Rajasthan, Ajay Kumar Saini, a teacher, would stop by the local kirana store on his way back from school to buy household items. One day, his brother introduced him to DealShare, a start-up that has built an e-commerce platform for middle and lower-income consumers in India and offered him his referral code.

Though sceptical, Saini opened the app thinking it would be in English and wouldn’t have the products or brands he needs. But Saini was in for a pleasant surprise. DealShare let him browse in his native language and had