Virtual expos and beyond: SMBXL's approach in reshaping MSMEs' digital journeys

Many micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were pushed towards digitalisation during the COVID-19 pandemic as successive lockdowns posed a significant threat to the sector.

Not all digital journeys, however, looked the same. According to a FICCI survey, SMEs have embraced digital technology across various business areas, with 60% employing it for human resources, 51% for sales and marketing, and 48% for finance. Around 37% of surveyed enterprises are also utilising cloud-based business applications like IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS. 

Supporting this growth is Hyderabad-based SMBXL, which provides technology solutions to MSMEs, allowing them to augment their business and expand to newer markets and geographies.

Preeti Ubale, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of SMBXL and Premanand Thudia, Founder and CEO, founded the startup in 2018, way before the pandemic struck. 

SMBXL helps businesses by connecting them with customers, suppliers, and business partners. It also provides value-added services that are essential to run a successful business.

SMBXL charges a subscription fee of Rs 799 per month for its tech tools. 

The company’s focus on organising virtual expos to connect enterprises sets it apart from its peers in the market.

Overall, the market for digital services for MSMEs could expand six-fold from its current $1.5 billion to over $9 billion by FY2025 driven by increasing demand for digital business solutions, Financial Express recently reported. 

How are SMBs getting digitised?

Ubale says that initially, SMBXL launched “Business Central” to help SMBs with day-to-day business management including customers, invoices, suppliers, purchases, products, inventory and accounting. However, when it reached out to businesses with these solutions, it found that marketing was the biggest pain point in the sector.

“MSMEs were very keen on having a tool that could help market their business. Now while various accounting software have existed like Tally Solution, KhataBook, etc; MSMEs needed something to boost their sales and after thorough research, we came up with Market Central as well,” Ubale says. 

Ubale highlights that the startup’s marketing solutions “Market Central” offers businesses a smooth omnichannel strategy to expand their sales avenues. 

Describing its functionality, Ubale points out that MSMEs, often rooted in tradition, aspire to enhance sales without solely relying on digital platforms. Through Market Central, businesses have discovered a balanced approach, bridging traditional and digital channels.

“We connect manufacturers, traders and wholesalers through our platform with each other and facilitate business activity. Now since MSME owners are traditionally dependent upon doing transactions offline, we didn’t want to change their pattern of doing business and hence, we don’t facilitate transactions. We connect them.”

So, how does SMBXL onboard these enterprises to connect with each other? 

Through telecalling and social media marketing, Ubale responds. 

Other than solutions for marketing, SMBXL also has logistics solutions which streamlines the transport and logistics process for MSMEs by allowing them to choose verified delivery partners according to their requirements.

Giving an example, Ubale says that suppose X is a manufacturer and Y is a wholesaler, they both connect on SMBXL, finalise a deal, and make a transaction offline, X can select logistics service and complete a business activity. There’s no need for them to go to a third party for logistics. 

Organising virtual melas

Along with offering tools for business activities, SMBXL also organises virtual melas (fairs) to connect various merchants with customers. 

SMBXL organised a seven-week-long virtual event featuring over two hundred dry fruit vendors from all corners of India, showcasing their products to Indian and multinational corporations, gifting companies, and individual consumers. 

With over 70,000 visitors participating in dry fruit shopping during the festive period, this initiative aimed to unite dry fruit merchants nationwide on a single technology platform, facilitating their outreach to new customers and markets without incurring extra expenses.

Between February and March 2024, the company organised one of the first B2B Online Machine Tools Expo 2024 which helped enterprises reach new dealers, suppliers, business partners and potential customers. The platform clocked over 1.8 lakh visitors during the two-week expo.

“These kinds of virtual expos are new to the Indian market and we have seen great traction. MSMEs need such initiatives to come out of their traditional shell and explore the emerging markets,” Ubale says.

Recently, the company also organised an online B2B and B2C hospital and medical supplies expo that saw participation of more than 1,200 suppliers, traders and manufacturers from across India representing over 10 categories in hospital and medical supplies. 

Ubale says that so far, the startup has onboarded around 69,000 MSMEs on SMBXL. However, the biggest challenge is the sector itself as many enterprises still don’t want to adopt digital solutions. 

“We aim to onboard MSMEs by the end of this year and are also aiming to onboard Self Help Groups (SHGs) that will help them get more business,” Ubale says.