In face of the demonetisation crisis hitting small businesses in India a Singapore based startup has comeup with an interesting and an easy to use solution for SMEs. An app called Shopmatic which can be used by SMEs to build their own online stores, complete with a payment gateway.
The company has recently released Shopmatic Go specifically for Android. It allows sellers to set up their online stores, get their own online domains, accept online payments, advertise to customers and a social circle, and get reports on successful sales. Users can take snapshots of their products and/or services, fill in the product details, and share the store (and its stock) through channels, including WhatsApp, Facebook, and email.
Shopmatic Co-founder and CEO Anurag Avula says,“There was an idea of enabling online commerce for individual entrepreneurs – we wanted to do that.” Shopmatic other co-founders are Yen Lim and Kris Chen. They have plans for expansion in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines within the next six months.
“I was able to set up a shop of my own on Shopmatic Go. It took about five minutes instead of the two advertised, but it was surprisingly straightforward, much like signing up for a subscription. I put in my business address and phone number. Then I took pictures of my merchandise and enter in pricing information, along with how many of each item I had in stock. I enabled the payment options I wanted with a couple of finger swipes, and my store was published. I had the option of publishing it on different social media outlets as well”, says an enthusiastic small businessman from India.
For shop owners in India, Shopmatic subscription service costs about US$20 for a month – customers pay nothing to use the platform, save a small processing fee for a successful payment.
Over 20,000 customers use Shopmatic at the moment and the number is expected to grow exponentially considering Indian government’s thrust towards a cashless economy.
The startup has offices in Singapore, Gurgaon, and Bangalore, and its development team is located in Taiwan. It has a team of around 50 people, most of whom are based in India.