While people are buying more on credit, they are also paying back through traditional BNPLs – at millions of mom and pop stores – by shopping at local stores without paying upfront.
Most of these shops usually struggle to get their dues back on time, however, this festive season more than 3 million customers came forward to settle their credits. OkCredit said merchants in eateries, school supplies, travel, jewelery and grocery stores saw the biggest increase in customers.
It said higher repayments have enabled merchants to extend more loans, leading to an increase in customers. Credit per active merchant on OkCredit increased by 23 percent and these merchants added 1 million customers during the festive period.
“Digital payments have played a big role in helping mom and pop stores recover credit. According to data from OKCredit, there has been a 100 percent increase in the number of digitally disposed credit lines since last year, which is the highest for digital Reflects the adoption of online payments in bookkeeping.” Said it.
It added that repayment and growth in retail SMBs (small and medium businesses) also points to a healthy recovery in the economy, especially in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, as these cities form part of OKCredit’s merchant base. are an important part.
Retail SMBs adopting digital solutions to manage their books have seen a 70 per cent increase, it said, adding that 25 out of 35 states and union territories have seen a growth in business over the previous year.
Others have remained more or less stable. Traders from states like Kerala and Karnataka have seen a growth of 8 per cent in business. The north-eastern states have seen the highest growth, with Manipur topping the list with 22 per cent growth in transactions per merchant.
“During both the first and second wave of SMBs were the worst affected covid,
Gaurav Kunwar, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, OKCredit, said, “While the festive season brought happiness to many sections of the economy, it was heartening to see credit recovery at a higher level.
The Indian retail segment comprises over 60 million (6 crore) local businesses, representing 95 per cent of the USD 1.1 trillion retail market, it said.
OKCredit said digital adoption among retail SMBs is growing rapidly, with many of them using digital bookkeeping and payment solutions for business growth.
OKCredit was established in 2017 to help millions of SMBs across the country manage their credit and receivables.