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Sustainability can be simplified as practices, ideas, or processes that will help businesses last longer, grow in a stable manner, and stay afloat through difficult market conditions. Technology plays a very important part in keeping businesses sustainable.

Here are 5 ideas to use technology and grow sustainably:

1. Inventory Management: Technology helps small businesses in India manage inventory more easily, helping them to reduce waste, collaborate with other businesses to create inventory pooling, and predict demand.

   → Business that made it big: BigBasket, an online grocery store, grew greatly with a technology-powered inventory management system. Using technology, the inventory management system predicted demand, optimized delivery routes, and reduced food waste, leading to growing revenue.

2. Customer Engagement: Technology can help small businesses in India stay connected with customers by helping them run various digital channels such as social media, email, and direct messaging. Businesses can even use personalized offers, deals, and more to increase engagement.

   → Business that made it big: Biryani By Kilo is a restaurant chain that adopted technology to interact with customers. Using its own mobile app, Biryani By Kilo allows customers to place orders, and track delivery, while also helping them earn rewards.

3. Payment Processing: With the rise of UPI, India is fast become a huge digital payments market. Small businesses can use digital payments to have better bookkeeping, focus more on consumers by automating payment, and stay safe and secure. Over 130 million UPI transactions are made in India per day, showing that customers prefer this mode of payment over cash or card.

   → Business that made it big:UPI companies such as PayTM have revolutionized how small Indian businesses accept payments. Using mobile wallets, credit/debit cards, UPI QR codes etc has transformed the process of buying and selling in India.

4. Growth Opportunities: Technology helps small businesses in India tap into opportunities for growth such as e-commerce, online marketplaces, own brand, and digital advertising. This can help them expand their reach and increase revenue streams. Using digital technology for customer engagement is expected to improve MSME productivity by 25-30%.

   → Business that made it big: Nykaa, the beauty and makeup platform, used new growth opportunities at every point to grow its business sustainably. By launching private label brands, working with influencers, and using digital advertising to its advantage, this brand has become a major player in ecommerce.

5. Adopting Sustainable Practices: Adopting sustainability practices such as reducing plastic usage, trying renewable energy, and promoting eco-friendliness in packaging or products can help businesses stand out from competition. According to a survey, 64% of customers in India are willing to pay more for sustainable products or services, showing that there is a growing demand for these kind of products.

   → Business that made it big: Paper Boat, the food and beverage company, uses sustainable practices. With eco-friendly packaging, farm-sourced ingredients etc, Paper Boat has managed to make a name for itself among Indian consumers.

Taking the first step: The words 'technology' and 'sustainability' can often sound frightening and difficult to understand when it comes to MSMEs. But technology is also the word behind revolutionary ideas such as UPI, Whatsapp, and online shopping. With MarketCentral, taking the first step is easy, effortless, and not expensive.

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