e-Commerce

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector is the backbone of India next only to the agriculture sector. The Government has recognized the word “Enterprise” as which includes both Manufacturing and Services through MSMED Act 2006. Globally MSMEs employ one-third of the working population. The MSME contributes 36% total value of exports of India and employees 80 million people, contributing nearly 8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

India is now third largest economy next only to US and China. The world economy has been witnessing a sliding trend in growth, from 3.9% in 2011 to 3.1% in 2012 and 3% in 2013. Due to deceleration in investment, the manufacturing sector has witnessed a sluggish growth previous year. GDP in the third and fourth quarter of the current year is expected to be 5.2% and that for the whole year has been estimated at 4.9%. Rupee came under pressure following indications by US Federal Reserve of reduction in asset purchase in May 2013. The Government, RBI and SEBI undertook a number of measures to facilitate capital inflows, stabilize the foreign exchange markets and to bring about a stable growth to the country.

            The 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017) has envisaged the importance of Technology in enhancing the global competitiveness of Indian MSMEs. The Prime Minister’s Task Force has identified that the low growth of MSMEs is due to the low technology being used in the MSME sector. The need to understand the role & importance of E-commerce in MSMEs growth has become vital during this 12th Five Year Plan. So this paper makes an attempt to understand basics of E-commerce with respect to the MSMEs scenarios. E-commerce platforms like B2B portal and B2C portal are playing vital role in enhancing the reach of the enterprises. So the MSMEs have to implement the new technologies of E-commerce such as M-commerce, E-payment development, Content Marketing, SMM (Social Media Marketing), E-mail and the Cloud Technology etc., in order to compete globally. There is a growing need to understand how to implement the cost effective, reliable and efficient ways of technology to the Entrepreneurs, who are striving to grow in the competitive 21st century.