From The Notebook To The Phone:How Neighbourhood Stores Are GoingDigital

Small grocery stores are moving from handwritten notebooks to simple apps. Here’s what changes, and why it doesn’t have to be complicated.

For twenty years, Suresh has run his shop from a notebook. Credit customers, supplier orders, what’s running low: all of it in his handwriting, all of it in his head. It works, as long as he’s the one behind the counter.

The day he’s away, nobody else can find anything

Small stores are already moving

In a recent survey of neighbourhood store owners in India, 84% said they had already started using technology in some way, and 80% said moving at least part of their business online was essential to growing. Many small shops already take a large share of their payments digitally

Neighbourhood stores going digital (India)

Already using some technology or digital tool
Say going online is essential to grow
Share of payments received digital by small shops

Why stock numbers stop being true

Sales aren’t always recorded in real time. Deliveries are logged late. Damaged or returned items aren’t written off. Branches can’t see each other’s stock. Small gaps build up until the number on the screen has little to do with what’s on the shelf

What fixes it

Stock that updates with every sale, delivery and return. Branches that can see each other’s inventory, so staff can say “We have it at our other store” with confidence. Reorder alerts before items run out, not after. Quick counts on a handheld device instead of a clipboard. Veltrixair’s retail platform ties billing, stock and purchasing together, so the shelf and the screen tell the same story

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