Pandemic and UPI assist B2B apps increase consumer base at a fast tempo

NEW DELHI :

Business-to-business, or B2B, apps are registering excessive development charges, a pattern that’s usually related to shopper apps.

Apps comparable to Khatabook, IndiaMart, BharatPe and Paytm for Business have added “tens of hundreds of thousands” of customers and registered a 48% year-on-year development of their consumer base within the quarter ending September over the year-ago interval, stated Cindy Deng, managing director, APAC, at App Annie, a cellular knowledge analytics platform.

Deng identified that whereas the pandemic has pressured extra customers on-line, the supply of infrastructure comparable to the federal government’s unified funds interface (UPI) has additionally helped folks undertake digital means like apps extra simply.

Thus, at the same time as social media stays the largest section when it comes to utilization, apps that cater to small merchants, retailers and different companies have phenomenally elevated their consumer base in 2021.

“The beneficiaries of this aren’t simply life-style, meals supply, grocery and leisure apps. We are additionally seeing development within the B2B area,” Deng said. “We don’t see as many users on B2B apps in other markets. It’s usually around the consumer apps where you see the millions of active users. However, in India, B2B apps are actually huge,” she stated.

Khatabook introduced a Series C funding spherical value $100 million in August, taking its valuation to $600 million. BharatPe introduced a $370 million funding spherical in the identical month, taking its valuation near $3 billion.

“India’s digital economic system is on an accelerated development curve, with the brand new digital shoppers not simply coming from city, however aspirational India as properly,” said Prabhu Ram, head, industry intelligence group at Cybermedia Research, a market research firm. “B2B e-commerce startups are building digital retail platforms, partnering with kirana stores and retail stores, and enabling them to serve their consumers. Driven by the uptick in e-commerce following the coronavirus outbreak, these platforms are poised for strong growth.”

The worth of UPI transactions crossed $100 billion in a month for the primary time in October this yr, in keeping with October 2021 knowledge from the National Payments Corporation (NPCI). The quantity of UPI transactions reached 8 billion in Q2 of 2021 alone, Deng famous and stated that it’s a good indication of “how the B2B area is rising” and supporting each giant and small enterprises in India.

The sheer measurement of India’s market is permitting gamers to dominate particular areas, Deng stated.

“On the funds aspect, Paytm could also be stronger within the north, whereas Google Pay could also be stronger within the west, and PhonePe within the south,” she said. “When you see that no one player is dominating the market, it creates a more vibrant (app) economy,” she stated.

Mobile app utilization had hit a brand new peak in India through the third quarter of 2021. In a report launched earlier this month, App Annie had famous that the variety of downloads within the nation grew by 28% through the quarter ended September 2021, as in comparison with the year-ago interval.

“Downloads is a place to begin (to gauge the app economic system). App publishers who’re actually capable of drive engagement and retain customers are those that will likely be profitable,” Deng stated.

She famous that the every day time spent on apps amongst Indian customers has grown from 3 hours to just about 5 hours between 2019 and 2021.

The consumer behaviour in India is much like traits which were noticed traditionally in developed markets comparable to China, Japan and South Korea, she stated. The market nonetheless doesn’t have a whole lot of paying customers, however Deng expects monetization to be the following step for firms distributing apps within the nation.

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