Kanwar Bir Singh is one of the directors of Vestige Marketing Pvt. Ltd, India’s largest home-grown direct selling company. Powered by a rich experience in managing IT solutions for the direct selling industry for years, Mr. Singh has been instrumental in integrating tailored information technology solutions with the complex business processes and in bringing forth great transformations through digital empowerment. With over two decades of experience in software development, programming, applications, etc, Mr. Singh has been instrumental in mapping Vestige’s digital growth ever since he co-founded it in 2004. One of his key responsibilities continues to be digital empowerment of Vestige’s booming distributor network so that they can serve the brand’s loyal customers across the globe.
Tier 2 and tier 3 cities of India have contributed immensely in India’s economic growth and re-emergence after the pandemic. The country’s fiscal growth is inextricably linked to the resurrection of enterprises and an overall improvement in business performance across all sectors. Technology has given rise to entirely new ways of interacting, purchasing, and learning. The effect of technological advancements has transformed our ways more globally in the last 100 years than in the previous 2,000 years.
The direct selling industry has been a catalyst in unleashing the potential of building entrepreneurial skill beyond the tier 1 markets. Its unique flexible functioning model saw it immunized against the new norms of the pandemic climate. While there are multiple factors responsible for this, a paradigm transition from offline to online sales and amplified use of technology in this work-from-home era have been the biggest contributors.
The direct selling organisations, with the help of technological advancements, continue to provide a viable business opportunity for millions of independent sellers around the world who would otherwise be without a choice. Digitalization has also emerged as the most reliable support system, keeping many enterprises and individuals afloat and it will not be wrong to say, built a connected economy.
When it comes to businesses regaining their footing, the traction has been seen in India since the unlock phase began. However, the tier 2 and tier 3 parts have shown a lot of promise. A number of causes have contributed to a significant shift in consumer behaviour. The pandemic-induced spike in reverse migration has played a significant role in relocating most young professionals nearer their homes. The scenario hastened the move towards digital and the simplified work process aided by technological advancements worked as an ultimate ray of hope for millions and will continue to pave the future path for the industry.
We’ve all seen how direct selling companies are adopting digital selling trends like digitalization, social selling, digital training, automatic payments, and CRM integrations, and how this has been the key to increasing consultants’ sales and remaining a relevant business model in today’s omnichannel world.
During the pandemic’s uncertainty, Vestige redefined and reshaped its operations by extending its flexibility, decentralization, and remote working model. Early adoption of technology and innovation in the business and social environment also added to the growth of the company. It effectively combined the online world with personalized selling and used technology interventions in training and upskilling to augment individual capabilities.
This enhanced the industry’s overall effectiveness in providing remote connectivity and promoting livelihoods in the form of economic inclusion at the grassroots level. The effect of this has been an increased capacity of the vast distributor network to tide over the vagaries of the pandemic. The economic growth the industry witnessed during the pandemic is a testimony to this.
Digitalisation in India is shaping the direct selling industry in a new direction. Besides using technology for marketing and distribution, companies are increasingly investing in online training and development tools which are creating transparent self-sustaining business models in entrepreneurship.
The requirement to maintain social distance due to the continuous fear of infection, and, of course, lockdowns, have all had a huge impact on the industry’s commercial dynamics. Referrals, meeting clients, exhibiting, and product demonstrating that are vital to the firm have all gone online. This is expected to continue in the post-pandemic era, as buying online is the simplest, most time-efficient, and productive method. It has opened-up new sales channels and significantly increased seller earnings.
At present, our focus lies on leveraging technology to drive growth. Digital platforms and robust IT system were essential to sustain business growth and create data centralisation to maintain consistency of employee engagement and customer feedback.
The digital transition across organisations kept employees, distributors, and stakeholders connected and feel supported. This entailed continued sensitive interaction to provide them with much-needed assurance and assistance on a timely basis.
Adaptation of digitalisation is proving to be highly beneficial and enabling the direct selling sector chart its growth path. Technology has played a key role in the transition of processes for distributors in the face of mobility restrictions and social distancing and has been a catalyst to our growth in the last two years.