ShopClues joins hands with MSME-DI, Ludhiana and CICU to give impetus to Digitization in the MSME sector

Ludhiana, August 24, 2017: ShopClues, India’s first and largest online market place, today organised a seminar on ‘Digital Empowerment of MSMEs’ with support from MSME-DI (Development Institute) and Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU). Mr.Kamal Singh, Deputy Director, MSME-DI Ludhiana, Mr.Chandra Mohan, DGM, SIDBI, Mr.Upkar Singh Ahuja, General Secretary, CICU, Ludhiana along with Mr.Ganesh Balakrishnan, VP - Merchant Ecosystem, ShopClues were present to support and create awareness about the significance of digitisation in the MSME sector as it is the prime driver in India’s economic growth.
Having recently concluded a similar program in Varanasi, the ShopClues Merchant Initiatives team conducted a half-day session on digital empowerment of MSMEs through e-Kaarobar; aimed at educating and empowering Indian MSMEs to experience enhanced market access in the e-commerce environment. ShopClues merchant community in Ludhiana is already over 5000 members strong.
A panel discussion on ‘Facilitating a Digital Competitive Ecosystem of MSMEs’ was also conducted for the attending merchants focusing on how digital advancement can help MSMEs sustain in the competitive environment. These merchants retail across categories like Home & Furnishing, Fashion & Lifestyle, and Industrial Goods etc.
Mr. Kamal Singh, Deputy Director, MSME-DI Ludhiana said, “MSMEs constitute over 80% of the Indian retail sector, and, with proper training and guidance, they are capable of revolutionising the future of our country. In the massive and dynamic space of retail business in India, only a small percentage has gone online so far. ShopClues, with their merchant-focus, has pushed for economic inclusion through the creation of a level-playing field for MSMEs. The ShopClues team, through SAARTHI is empowering MSMEs to grow their businesses and maximise their visibility by selling their products online. They may use ShopClues platform for online market. I would like to congratulate ShopClues for coming forward to help MSMEs for this initiative.”
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ganesh Balakrishnan, VP Merchant Ecosystem, ShopClues said, “Ludhiana has always been known to have one of the best business environments in India. MSMEs in the Lifestyle domain, producers of household appliances, hosiery and apparel, industrial goods, machine parts, and auto parts have been its major contributors. Our SAARTHI program today was to further empower MSMEs and bring them into the economic mainstream of the country. We are confident that the MSME community will benefit from this initiative, establish their digital identity, and digitize billing and payments. I would like to thank MSME –DI and CICU for their support for SAARTHI.”
Mr. Upkar Singh Ahuja, General Secretary, CICU said, “the main objective of this program is to achieve excellence in sales via E-commerce assistance available for expanding business like manufacturing, trading services through Digital Empowerment escalating to new Geographical region of customers. E-commerce is must for MSMEs if they want to compete in the global market. There is a need to change the mindset of the leaders in this scenario. Industrial units should make business plans and use modern tools for Global Sourcing.”
A pre-event was organised for the members of FICCI Ladies Organization (FICCI-FLO) Ludhiana Chapter on August 23rd, 2017 at MSME- DI Ludhiana office with over 40 women entrepreneurs. Participating entrepreneurs received hands-on training on how they can use ShopClues.com to create
The vote of thanks was presented by Sh. Harsimjit Singh, joint Secretary of the Chamber and S/Sh. Pankaj Sharma, Vinod Thapar, Rajneesh Ahuja, Didarjit Singh, Shaheesh Saini, Ravinder Saini, Honey Sethi, Ajit Lakra, T.R Misra, O.P Bassi, Kanish Kaura, Jatinder Pal Singh, Vinod Thapar, Phuman Singh, , Sham Gupta, S.S Bedi, S.B Singh, Rajneesh Bansal were also present.