How Second Wave has impacted Influencer Marketing?

 

DEFINITION

Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on using key leaders to drive your brand’s message to the larger market. Influencers, can be anyone and anywhere. The large followings on the web and social media makes them influential.

CURRENT SITUATION

The second wave of Corona-virus has created havoc resulting in calls for beds, medicines, and oxygen over social media platforms, a sharp decline has been witnessed across Influencer Marketing activities.  

The uncertainty and changing dynamics has forced Influencer Marketers from across the world to scrap plans as no industry has been immune to the effects of COVID-19 with companies shrinking marketing budgets, influencers are dropping their rates.

HOW INFLUENCERS ARE PIVOTING DURING COVID-19

Influencer content among travel and tourism brands dropped significantly. Influencer marketing activities have fallen 40-70% since April 2021 due to brands postponing launches of new products and pausing their campaigns with keeping in mind that there is dip in consumer sentiments.

There’s a fear among top advertisers of being trolled for being tone deaf to the worsening state of the pandemic in the country if they indulge in promotions.

Mostly all the companies which cares about the image of its brand has delayed promotions, big spenders such as fashion & lifestyle, cosmetics and travel categories have paused their promotions. Personal care and hygiene related brands are carrying out low-scale campaigns.

THE WAY FORWARD

We will see a brand new direction of influencer marketing which is changing as consumers are being more careful than ever for choosing who they listen to, where they shop, and where their income is directly contributing too.

Influencers will try to keep their brand authentic by carefully choosing brand partnerships.

Companies will invest more resources into influencers, as they are an ideal bridge between consumers and their products during this period of remote contact.

Influencer marketing will see brand collaborations from profitable sectors such as digital payments, video conferencing tools, gaming, entertainment, and OTT. Companies will choose cheaper alternatives to influencer marketing over mass media advertising as advertising budgets will be slashed.

Can Tractor sales propel Indian Economy?

 

The ongoing debate about whether the agricultural sector will save the day for the Indian economy when there is rapid spread of the pandemic? This is a year in which the wider economy is expected to contract, with agriculture expected to continuously grow.

Tractor sales in India soared 22.5% to 92,888 units in June 2020. In June 2019, it sold 75,858 tractors. Does this mean a recovery in the rural economy? Can the rural economy push the Indian economy ahead in the coming months?

If we compare sales from June 2020 with sales from June 2019, it suggests a revival in the rural economy. What we need to consider though is that the period between April and June is the traditional tractor sales season. Sales from April to June 2020 dropped 13.7 % to 1,65,156 units relative to last year. That's the lowest in four years. High June sales is also due to the pent-up demand, considering the April and May lockdowns. Only if the tractor sales figures remain robust in the months ahead, then we can suggest a marginal recovery in rural economy.

Following the lockdown and disruption caused by coronavirus, tractor sales did not decrease as much as other vehicles such as two-wheelers and cars. This is mainly because the agriculture sector was not as badly affected by the pandemic as the other sectors with strong rabi crop harvest and a good monsoon season helped boost the sale of tractors, government cash assistance for farmers and funding availability further increased the growth momentum.

1. Escorts announced 9.5% growth from 4,860 units in July 2019 to 5,322 units in July 2020
2. Mahindra & Mahindra’s Farm Equipment Sector reported 27% growth from 19,992 units in July 2019 to 25,402 units in July 2020
3. Sonalika Tractors announced 71.7% growth in domestic sales to 8,219 units, compared to a year ago

The Center has provided an increased distribution of Rs 1.5 lakh crore cash in rural India by the purchase of crops at MSP and other benefit schemes, according to Citibank.

The farmers had a good rabi crop harvest including better yield they are queuing up to buy tractors in cash. A normal tractor costs just about Rs 5 lakh, and manufacturers give preference to cash-paying farmers. Not a lot of farmers are currently applying for loans to purchase tractors. In addition to buying agricultural goods such as wheat at minimum support prices (MSP), some state government such as Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have given farmers incentives, leaving them with a significant amount of cash they also have received good amount of bonuses thus demand for tractors is such that the manufacturers running their units at full capacity.

Besides these, waiver of farm loans by states like Maharashtra also helped farmers loaded with cash. Companies plan to hit maximum capacity in August, after fixing supply chains that collapsed in the months-long lockdown to contain the coronavirus. But it should be noted that the increased tractor sales merely indicate that extremely rich farmers are doing well. They do not represent the state of the agricultural economy as a whole nor the rural economy in this regard.

There's more to the agricultural economy than just rice and wheat. As supply chains have broken down, the hotels and restaurants have been shut down, everybody, from vegetable growers to fruit growers to dairy farmers and poultry farmers had a tough time in recent months. Given their perish ability there are no MSPs for vegetables and fruits. Here it is worth mentioning that since 2012-13, total horticulture production has surpassed food grain production, from vegetables to fruits, spices, flowers, honey to plantation crops. Therefore, it is not right to say that the whole agricultural economy has been doing well there are many farmers out there with very little government support.

Agriculture is the only sector expected to grow this year which is a great news. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that in 2019-20, the scale of the industry which includes forestry as well as fishing, was just 13.4% of the total economy which is too small to propel the economy. Over the years, the size of agriculture as a share of the economy has also shrunk.

To sum up its difficult to say that increased tractor sales will help in reviving the economy, though rural economy may end up being in a better shape than the urban economy during the course of this year, but it is not in a position to drive growth across the overall economy

 

 

 

Has Pandemic made MBA less attractive?

 

The Indian government announced on 24 March that it will lockdown nationally until April 14, which was later extended till 3 May. A lot of B-School campuses across India shut down their campuses as a preventive measure, following the government's order to close all educational institutions. Many government and private B-schools postponed courses, semester exams, convocation, and rounds of group discussion & personal interview.

The uncertainty over the next two years about securing internships and jobs has affected the decision of many aspirants to delay their plans. The pandemic has interrupted the plans of many young people who expect to attend B-school this year in India and abroad. For the fall semester schools expect a less diverse community. Embassies and consulates are closed, so the issuing of visas has come to a halt. Airplanes are grounded across the globe which means study trips are cancelled which is a major part of MBA hence, many schools will switch to national and regional students to compensate for the global mobility disruption.

Most are worried about the effectiveness of the programme, considering the extent of the social and economic damage done by Covid-19. Leading B - schools in India are unfazed by the ongoing economic downturn. However, the middle and lower ranking B-schools have taken on a big hit, especially in terms of placements, which rely on sales jobs involving travel.

Some B-schools have changed their course length and teaching method to respond to the transition. Indian School of Business (ISB) restructured its curriculum and went through the lockdown online for two months, and reducing semesters from five hybrid models to four weeks as not all students will be able to attend on-campus classes when they begin. It also offers them the chance to reach out to a larger pool of leading foreign faculty and industry leaders. Many students are not happy about this and feel that online classes do not justify the high fees and whether online education can match the quality of personal education with job prospect has made MBA a devalued asset among MBA aspirants.

Campus experience and networking are key aspects of selecting an institute. The networking is a big part of an MBA course. If institutes invite business leaders for guest lectures, students get a chance to interact with the person. If it's online then it’s not possible to interact with everyone. Those seeking to join a business school are also wondering whether it would be useful to have an MBA degree given the changing business landscape. Managing digital and remote jobs would also be needed further. 

It is a phenomenon that has been going on for some time, but Covid-19 has significantly paced it up Many organisations now feel that they need a greater awareness of how to manage and maintain connections and communication from a distance. MBA degree is seen valuable by millions of Indians every year. Not only is it a chance at a better pay, the degree is a gateway to switch career but the reputation of the school, what's being taught, the alumni network and the kind of companies that knock at the door during campus placements also matters a lot.

The pandemic impact and the slow employment market has affected long tail of mediocre B-schools which is now facing a crisis. Campus placements typically take place between December and April, due to the lockdown, many management institutes either stalled or left the placement phase unfinished by 2020. Many Tier II and III B-schools are now struggling to place their student's, pandemic has thrown the schedule and plans of business school students into total disarray.

Anticipating a slump in the economy due to the spread of Covid-19 summer internships of many b-school students has been postponed, cancelled or cut short from eight weeks to six weeks some of them have gone online this will impact the final placement of 2021. Compared to the last placement season, the average salary offer is up 7-15 percent in top B-schools but the scenario for Tier II and III B-schools is totally different. Online delivery of content is a new beast and professors are ill-prepared. Schools need to revisit what they are teaching as well as develop new content, as business models has experienced drastic changes in last two months.

Every business at the moment is building a new cost model and new level of efficiency in operations by inducting more technology which should be taught by B-Schools and if they are not including such things in their curriculum then they will surely be left behind.

“Schools needs to focus on skills such as creativity, crisis management, conflict management, empathy, leadership, strategic thinking, understanding technological progress, disruption, problem solving, and dynamic decision making to make an impact on the market”.

At last i will like to conclude by saying, MBA is valuable to those who want to learn to manage in complex environments. The more students are willing to learn and grow, the more they will get out of their experience.

 

How Amul survived the pandemic?

As soon as lock-down was announced in the country, households panicked and rushed to grocery stores to stock up on essentials even after Prime Minister announced that the essential services would be exempted from the lock-down whereas crowd gathered outside warehouse and the company did not had any options left but to do retail sales, to everyone surprise there were no disruptions the next morning and the milk truck arrived on time.

India imposed a strict lock-down between 25 March and 7 June but there were no instances of shortage of dairy products or customers being extra charged. In contrast, essential items which are perishables such as fruits and vegetables experienced regular fluctuations in price and availability.

The pandemic has proved the intrinsic strengths of the cooperative dairy industry and the resilient supply chain of Amul. Amul works on trust and disciplined supply chain built on social innovation model. Pandemic or no pandemic, given the fact that milk is a highly perishable product, it has never back off from the commitment of a stable price for both consumers and farmers.

The Amul brand is connected with 3.6 million farmers where the products of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation or GCMMF is sold under Amul brand. Milk is brought by 2.6 million farmers twice a day from 18,600 villages and then the milk is processed, packed after transporting it to district milk unions. 10,000 distributors and a million retailers deliver the products to billion consumers daily.

Once the lock-down was imposed, Amul declared cash incentives for staff at dairy plants, drivers, sales executives, distributors and retailers. Although casual workers received extra cash aid for working during a pandemic between 100 - 125, distributors received an additional 35 paisa incentive per litre of milk. Food and stay arrangements were made to avoid any labour shortages for employees inside dairy plants.

Around the same time, the firm reached out to the Union home ministry and state departments of animal husbandry to arrange passes for its employees and ensured that empty trucks were permitted to return (after supplying milk products).

It coordinated with the district collectors where packaging factories were situated to ensure continuous supply of packaging materials. Amul also arranged for cattle feed to be exported to Gujarat for its farmers from states such as Punjab and Haryana. Nearly 45 percent of the goods were shipped by freight trains, which reduced travel time.

Amul continued to take extra care of their staff, planning their meals and stay plus cash incentives. From warm water for drinking to Ayurvedic medicines (to boost immunity), all was successfully done, there was not a single recorded case of infection among plant workers and not a single litre of milk was wasted. The plant could handle more than 500,000 litres of milk it received daily.

The lock-down led small dairies and unorganized trade withdrawal from the supply of milk, Amul received 15-17 % more milk from farmers as households preferred a trustworthy brand over unbranded or loose milk, demand for Amul 's liquid packed milk increased by 5-7 % relative to Pre-Covid days.

Given the closing of hotels and restaurants, demand for cheese and paneer is at least 30 % higher, while sales of butter and ghee are up 10-20 %. During the shutdown, demand for ice creams plummet but Amul was able to shift the ice cream distribution network into other product segments. The lockdown and the pandemic fear led consumers trust in Amul in addition to this the uninterrupted delivery helped them rise. Amul managed to bring some 12,000-crore cash into the hands of the dairy farmers who supplied them with raw milk, while many corporations failed to sustain their production chains and product sales during the pandemic, Amul will definitely gain market share.

Even in such time, Amul has introduced 'Ginger' and 'Tulsi' milk to improve immunity in the Covid-19 pandemic as coronavirus vaccine is yet to arrive, their latest variants of milk will ensure that people have adequate immunity before them to combat the deadly virus. Such drinks can be enjoyed daily by any age group at any time. They come for 125mL easy-open-end can, at a price of just Rs 25. At room temperature, the packages have a shelf life of 6 months. Amul introduced Haldi milk earlier in April which is known for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.

 Thus, we can see that the brand value and trust has certainly helped Amul to survive such a pandemic with strong supply chain of farmers and distributors whereas the benefit of the Amul cooperative model is that profit is not a business goal where they never drive away a farmer and the primary aim is to provide products to the consumer for the lowest possible price. It has done a fantastic job (during the lockdown) leveraging its work culture and its image. Amul has not only kept its promise of delivery of its products but has achieved a growth which seems impossible in current period with lock-down and global recession round the corner also the GCMMF has sat a goal to achieve business turnover of 1 lakh crore by 2024-25 by targeting a spot in the world's top three dairy players.

How the Sales will look post Covid?

Massive disruption is being seen in the process of selling; sales teams are now planning for the Post-Covid-19 world to overcome the pandemic by learning the art of closing deals in video calls to engaging clients on social media platforms. If it comes to what's happening in the economy today as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, there are two rates of instability of industry. First, routine sales meet & travel, and softer aspect of finalizing a deal, especially for B2B sales where a face-to-face discussion with key stakeholders or a dine and meeting is key to ironing out a deal's contours. Second, a decline in consumer demand in some industries, such as travel, hospitality, aviation, will see a resulting sharp decrease in their level of desire to proceed with other business functions. And any other sector should be more conservative and less likely to invest.

The blueprint for post-Covid era sales requires the search for innovative product lines but also shifting to alternative platforms to hold on to customers and explore with various retail formats. In industries such as real estate and technology services, there has been a large-scale digitization of business operations — including remote selling through webinars and gamified virtual walkthroughs.

For example, the regular day of a traditional salesperson involved visiting two or three potential clients, over breakfast, lunch or dinner to discuss products or services. Closing deals needs another few meeting personal touch was always important to customers before closing deals, but the sales team's adoption of digital for customer access has significantly increased. This meant that traditional sales strategy will have to be reworked and that teams will now need to leverage technology to engage with customers. Even after current travel restrictions are lifted, the new model is more or less likely to remain in place.

Travel is going to decline and companies will do things differently. So sales people are still going to travel, but not for the same reason as they used to. Sales person will visit clients, but instead of visiting clients three days a week they would visit them once and the rest of the time they would be using virtual calls however, this new paradigm pushes sales department to be more responsive because the campaign success can be measured in virtual meetings unlike physical ones.

Digital sales are becoming a global phenomenon. McKinsey and Company recently completed surveys of B2B businesses across 11 countries. In a study entitled The B2B Digital Inflection Point: How sales have changed during Covid-19, the company stated: "Nearly 90 percent of sales switched to a video conference / phone / web sales model, and while there remains some doubt, more than half agree that this is equivalent or more successful than sales models used before Covid-19."

In India, the pandemic has forced many businesses to re-examine their existing distribution strategies. Some sale will undoubtedly be affected due to fresh worries around hygiene, physical contact, social distancing, traveling to locations that are not sanitized, but there are also broader problems. How sustainable will this trend be when the pandemic is contained? Wouldn't people just revert to their old ways?

The human desire for physical contact, where seeing and believing will never go away. Many companies require live demonstrations, physical presence, convincing one-on-one.This would, however, minimize to a significant degree, for example vehicle sales would also involve a car inspection, a test drive. Yet a customer would do more of the online research, and the test drive would be a finale.

Changes which firms will do post Covid to manage sales are as follows

Connecting with new channels: - Orders will be collected via phone which was earlier taken from physical sales. The company's e-commerce website will witness a major traffic shift. Consumers will consolidate shopping into one or two days a month instead of four times a month, and Bigger-format retailers and aggregators will prosper. Firms like Tupperware India has moved from direct sales to what it calls "social selling" where each direct seller is given a URL that they can share within their peer group. Direct sellers typically send them to their Whats App and other contacts via social media. When clicked the URL it will take buyers to company website.

Remote Selling: - Covid-19 is refashioning how at this moment the organization handles its retailers and distributors, for example A real estate firm, creates leads via its website where members of the customer service get in contact with potential property customers by phone or mail. The company's brokers contact prospective investors and then tour the real estate sites before selecting a property to invest in. Part of this buying process has moved remote also organizing webinars for developers where videos of the property, the locality are displayed to prospective buyers and within the session of webinar various queries of customer is taken by sales executives.

New demand: - While, five-star and luxury hotels are working with delivery firms to send delicacies at home as well as hotels are offering quarantine services, while both quarantine demand and home delivery opportunities for luxury hotels are for the short term, they need to look at potential new revenue opportunities that are more viable by re-calibrating business models.

Re-invest your time: - The time saved on travel will now be used for up-skilling or learning about a new sector or industry to which you previously did not cater too. Getting a good knowledge of the organisation of your clients helps you stand out from the competitors.

Educate your customers: - Start a newsletter or podcast to share positive stories with your product / solutions about how your other clients are having success. It will offer your prospects confidence and keep you in mind while proving that your business is still alive and kicking.

The keys to navigate the next normal are speed, agility and a new understanding of consumer values. Sales leaders need to operate through three horizons simultaneously: navigating the crisis now, planning for recovery and leading the next normal.

Source: - From Article Leading with purpose by McKinsey & Company 

Sales leader should follow the quote “actions demonstrates commitment, so leaders must respond to the immediate needs of the sales organization beyond health and safety”.

Companies will adopt “SHAPE” model to lead sales post Covid

Start-up mindset: - The start-up mindset biases action over research and testing over analysis start-up leaders set an agile standard by daily team check-ins, weekly 30-minute CEO reviews and two-week sprint reviews.

Human at the core: - Organizations would need to reconsider their business model to push rapid change, develop it on how your employees work effectively, which may need a whole new level of coordination which coaching between front-line selling staff and leadership to meet customer standards.

Accelerate digital, tech, and analytics: - The best companies will respond swiftly to develop and extend their digital channels by using advanced analytics to combine new and innovative sources of data

Purpose-driven customer playbook: - Keeping customers at the center of business is a long-established concept, but post-corona-virus companies will need to reconsider decision-making processes to consider what consumers now value and design new use cases and customer experiences based on those insights and then segment clients.

Ecosystems to drive adaptability: - The disruptions in supply chains and retail purchasing networks have made adaptability essential not just for sustainability but also for quick exposure to opportunities. Adaptability will mean how businesses operate with organizations and investors in the short term but it may take new partnerships and non-traditional collaborations in the long run, including strategic M&A.

Steps need to be taken to increase the sales during pandemic are

1. Increase revenue through up-selling
2. Experiment with the cold call scripts and email templates
3. Sell longer contracts
4. Get more referral sales

Thus, trying something new which is mentioned above will certainly boost the sales of the organisation and will convert dry pipeline into a well of golden opportunities.

Home Delivery of Booze - Can Startups cash in the huge opportunity?

Lots of money and opportunity will eventually follow in India when booze is concerned and it is the liquor delivery sector that has led companies, services, startups and entrepreneurs alike to see a massive windfall. In India, liquor sales take place through three licensed vertical retail, horeca (hotels, restaurants and catering), and department canteen stores. The total horeca licensed places are around 30,000 in the country and the stock in hand is for 1 month at any given time, which means that the total unsold inventory at various horeca outlets throughout India would be around Rs 3,000 while liquor retail sales are opening, the service industry continues to be deferred due to corona.

According to the All India Brewers Association (AIBA), the liquor industry is contributing revenues to state governments about Rs 2.5 lakh crore. In the 40-odd days when liquor trade was closed, states lost revenue of around Rs 25,000 crores. After the lock down imposed in the country on 25 March, all liquor shops and distributors in the country were closed and production, services and supply were also halted. Although customers were supported by eCommerce and app-based logistics companies to get on their doorsteps a continuous supply of food and vital goods, alcohol buyers were left in the lurch.

The Indian food aggregators such as Zomato and Swiggy seem to have heard the alcohol lovers’ anxious prayers. The company has confirmed in a major announcement that it is making a foray into supplying alcohol to customers at their doorstep. The company is on the road to set an example for the entire industry, having already diversified its interests into grocery stores and home essentials delivery less than a week after launching similar services in Jharkhand Zomato and Swiggy  launched home delivery of alcohol in Odisha as part of measures to avoid overcrowding of customers in shops in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Zomato would soon spread to other towns, such as Rourkela, Balasore, Balangir, Sambalpur, Berhampur and Cuttack, beginning with Bhubaneswar.

Swiggy said in a separate statement that their home delivery service went live in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela last month after receiving the necessary approvals from the government of Odisha and plans to extend to other major cities in the state. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court requested states to allow non-direct contact or digital purchases and home delivery of liquor during the lockout phase to avoid the spread of coronavirus due to crowding in the shops, there will be age checks at the time of order as well as at the time of delivery of the product. Users would be asked to submit a valid proof of Identity to be qualified for order, which will then be checked by the delivery partner when the order is issued. The service called Zomato Wine Shops would be available on the Zomato app's homepage and will enable users to select any product from the listed retailers and have it delivered right outside their doors of place orders.

All orders will carry a unique OTP which the customer must provide at the time of delivery. The news has certainly grabbed the eyeballs throughout, with businesses of all scales, especially those who are up and coming, looking to expand their horizons, vertically or horizontally, aggressively and actively. Within no time the internet became abuzz with the news of many other existing businessmen and investors who have set their eyes on this untapped Indian market and this has led to many unanswered questions which are as follows

1. Will Liquor delivery be the next multi-billion startup idea for entrepreneurs in INDIA?

2. Whether this kind of business model is high-risk high-gain for entrepreneurs and investors?

3. Will it be a new cash cow for the economy?

Liquor Delivery: The Trigger

It will come as no surprise that the market for liquor has skyrocketed since the shutdown, consisting of such a vibrant customer base. As the government eased restrictions on the movement of essential and non-essential goods from 4 May, it also took the decision to allow a fraction of liquor outlets to reopen throughout the country. This prompted other consumers around the country to flout social distancing norms such desperate acts by the people prompted the government to consider viable ways to curtail the spread of coronavirus and offered the involved parties an immense opportunity to capitalize on such a huge market. Whether or not liquor delivery was originally in every organization's plans, the pandemic's onset has intensified the effort to diversify their operations.

This actually has an impact across multiple facets. Startups such as HipBar, HipCask, sites such as WineBazar.in and LetsBuyDrink.com, etc., have already been doing business in space, facilitating the home delivery of alcoholic beverages in that time, also achieving varied levels of success, sometimes due to the grey area in operation and sometimes due to changing state government laws. It is precisely these issues that have made this lockdown the perfect opportunity to rake in the extra cash for these companies.

For certain nations, overall tax based on alcohol consumption amounts to as much as 25 per cent. annually, Delhi with per capita GDP higher than the national level, receives over Rs 5,000 crore. Last year Karnataka earned Rs 21,400 crore from the liquor sales. In this time of crisis, states like Kerala and Meghalaya, which have the highest per capita consumption rates for alcoholic beverages, along with Goa, which is also a tourism-driven industry are severely impacted. The central government has proclaimed itself to be hit hard, and the GST reserves and revenue sources of the states have dried up. 

In the aftermath of these spectacular results, states are pushing for a regulated compliance and delivery allocation to account for lost sources of revenue. It has also encouraged app and web services to continue their work and to stabilize their companies by expanding their offerings to multiple outlets and governments of the state. States such as Chhattisgarh, Punjab and West Bengal have all launched online portals and mobile apps that offer door-to - door alcoholic beverage distribution (9am-7pm) based on age verification by means of Aadhar numbers.

At the other hand, many companies have also requested state governments to encourage them to move forward with the distribution services in tandem with Zomato, with their near rivals Swiggy obviously interested in entering the space. ISWAI, the Indian Spirits and Wines Association of India, a representative body, has also called for more clarification on the standards and legislation for alcoholic beverage distribution through the states but the biggest challenge for Swiggy and Zomato will be the detailed clearance required by each state government to expand this line of business.

A Multi-Billion Dollar Opportunity for Entrepreneurs

Such technological measures will not only provide the government with effective ways to fight the spread of COVID-19 while maintaining regulations, but will also enable potential entrepreneurs to benefit from the clientele. The delivery model which works on the app has garnered huge success in India.  Though Zomato, Swiggy, Big basket has already been riding high with their unicorn status, there are more than 1,0007 logistics start-ups, including Dunzo and JhutPut, seeking to gain a substantial market share.

India's alcohol industry is the world 's third-largest with an estimated $35 billion behind just two big nations, China and Russia.  According to Euromonitor International, a well-known research firm, India's spirit industry – which includes whiskey, brandy, rum and vodka is estimated to grow 25 percent by 2022 to 2.92 trillion rupees ($41bn). Combine it with India's beer market, by 2022 the combined demand is expected to be as high as $56 billion to $60 billion (4.4 trillion rupees).

With the increase in the rise of smartphones, the rapid use of digital payment systems and the growth in customer trust in technology-driven delivery firms the app-based liquor delivery start-ups could comfortably account for not less than 1% of the overall market over the next two years, which will amount to $600 million (3,800 crore rupees) now that Indian delivery startups are growing it would be safe to assume that India 's online liquor delivery market would be nearly $ 3 billion – $4 billion business in the next 4-5 years.

Liquor Delivery: The Challenges

It is just the dawn of India's liquor delivery market. Just like every emerging sector, it always comes with a range of its own policy challenges, as well as emerging businessmen. The government has to re-examine its liquor policies to gain entrepreneurs' trust. The uncertainty in the business model of liquor delivery is a major problem and companies like HipBar have already felt the brunt of that.   The biggest barrier to the sale of liquor continues to be the disparity of laws between various jurisdictions. Retail laws are not only special but there is also a disparity in income, rates and also age limits.

The major challenge is about managing inventories. Imagine a consumer order on the app for a particular variety of beer, and something else is delivered which is not desired also retailers worry that online businesses such as Zomato , Swiggy and others may threaten profitability, which is a major deal in the liquor store industry due to the high sale license price. For businesses like Swiggy and Zomato there are no rules as retailers believe they won't be able to access the orders they normally receive because applications can monitor the whole chain from ordering to last-mile delivery. Just a few retailers could go for exclusive Zomato and Swiggy tie-ups. In this situation, when exclusivity comes at a premium, smaller retailers would miss out on the market. Data misuse by food delivery apps could monopolize consumer data from liquor distribution, claimed by some restaurants in the food delivery space. Retailers want to own this data as they think consumers will be linked directly to sellers.

To sum up

Governments in almost all states have imposed on the alcoholic drinks a heavy 'extra corona tax' to maximize revenue, thus helping the operations of delivery services. Brewery workers have also called for this model to be affirmed, because it will help thousands of workers to get paid and restaurants, roadside dhabas will benefit from this arrangement which have been dry all along this time. What seems to be a controversial issue on the surface can be the one which provides the economy and its related businesses with a big cash flow it is really an opportunity worth exploring for entrepreneurs. How far the liquor delivery firms extract the revenue will rely on the policies the government chooses to adopt.

Can the INDIAN government create jobs?

The current health and economic crisis give us insights into what is and is not working well in India, and how we should be preparing for a better tomorrow. Yes, we were able to better reach the marginalized population of India using our public distribution system and direct transfers of benefits through the digital infrastructure that we have built over the last decade also the migrant worker 's plight and the urban and rural daily worker's huge economic setback are becoming painfully transparent. 

The attempts of the government to build employment and protect employees have fallen short with a skills development plan that has missed goals, a welfare system that only protects a small proportion of the unorganized workforce, and a network of underfunded rural employment. India needs to promote the inclusion of women in the labour force. In 2011-2012, women accounted for no more than 25 percent of the labour force, down from 33 percent in 2005, according to a 2014 national sample survey on employment, rate worse than the Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka neighbors.

India’s unemployment is the result of

1. Low level of education
2. High dropout rates
3. Lab our market asymmetries
4. A mismatch between the supply of skills and demand
5. The high aspirations of young people

Most metropolitan municipal bodies lack the capital, capability and financial flexibility to enhance their provision of public services, and the towns face extreme environmental pressures such as floods, landslides and coastal degradation as well. Together, financial unsustainability and environmental hazards drive migration while leading to poor quality of life and concerns about public health.

Is it possible to tackle these twin challenges together using an integrated approach-Yes and the Green Jobs is the way forward as classified by the International Lab our Organization, these are decent jobs which also help preserve the environment. Jobs will come from both conventional industries such as manufacturing and building, and emerging green industries such as recycling, water conservation, waste management, urban farming and green transport.

India 's transition to a green economy could create 3 million jobs, projected by the International Lab our Organization, in the renewable energy sector alone by 2030. In 2017, this sector created 47,000 new jobs in India, employing 432,000 people according to a July 2018 India Spend report. The number of jobs in India's green energy sector, excluding large hydro power projects, increased in just one year to 2017 by 12 per cent. About 20 percent of the more than 500,000 new green jobs created worldwide in 2017 were in India, meaning that the sector employed more than 721,000 Indians. Green jobs thus seem to be the way a nation with a strong demographic dividend will go, a high jobless rate and a declining environment. According to the above-mentioned report, around 24 million jobs could be created by transitioning to a circular economy that includes activities such as recycling, repairing, renting and re-manufacturing, and ecosystem services such as air and water purification, soil renewal and fertilization.

Green Jobs can be generated in the following sector

RENEWABLE SECTOR

As per the Ministry for New and Renewable energy, India 's rising renewable energy market is expected to create more jobs in the coming years. More people are needed in this sector to make this transition feasible, in jobs such as solar power generation on the rooftop, the manufacture of solar panel modules, inverters and converters, and end-use components for LED bulbs and energy efficient pumps.

 WASTE MANAGEMENT

Green jobs can also be a way to address two critical issues faced by most Indian towns and cities which are municipal solid waste management and wastewater management. At present it is projected that hazardous waste is disposed of unsafely directly into the atmosphere and that various states have very little disposal ability to dispose of this waste safely. A relatively small volume of water is treated and the remainder is disposed of without treatment into the atmosphere, contaminating the surface and groundwater sources and contributing to public health issues. Building and operating treatment plants — both sewage treatment plants for sewer waste and faecal sludge treatment plants for non-sewer waste — can help to efficiently dispose of these, while also providing jobs. There is still no effective disposal of solid waste in the state, and most cities have inefficient centralized solid waste collection facilities. In a city municipal corporation, solid waste management activities such as dry waste disposal and micro-composting systems may produce several jobs each year.

 GREEN TRANSPORT

The transport sector is responsible for a lot of greenhouse gas emissions, using more than a quarter of the world 's energy and nearly equal share of global emissions of carbon dioxide. To address this, central and state policies are gradually promoting the introduction of non-motorized transport, electric vehicles, and bio-CNG vehicles. India's National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 has the ability to cause a disruptive change in the country's automobile and transportation sectors if well executed. In the recent Union budget, as an additional measure to promote electric vehicles, the central government reduced GST for electric vehicles from 12 per cent to 5 per cent. However, the adoption of electric vehicles and green mobility requires considerable manpower, and this can generate large numbers of green jobs in manufacturing, servicing and maintaining green mobility systems.

 URBAN FARMING

Urban forestry and roof-top gardening are increasingly becoming a phenomenon in India's cities and this will not only encourage local vegetable production but also help to reduce the impact of heat-island effect. These islands are created when human activities, such as the excessive use of concrete and asphalt in construction work, create significantly warmer urban pockets than those surrounding rural areas. For industrial areas these practices often create carbon sinks that absorb pollution like a sponge. An increase in urban farming practices can help create jobs in permaculture, gardening and nursery management, and in the supply of soil and nutrients.

 The other ways jobs can be created in the following areas

Employment Generation Through Packaging Services

Packaging requires good packing material, efficient packing personnel and efficient transportation facilities. Significant number of people are either self-employed or wage-employed for packaging.

Warehousing Services

Manufacturers carry out large-scale production and consumers buy the goods according to their needs in small quantities. Consequently, the goods produced must be stored in cold storage, warehouse etc It provides self-employment and employment to staff, labour transporters etc.

Transport Services

When any means of transport are used, the entrepreneur indirectly provides the operators, drivers, mechanics etc. with employment. Through this way, the entrepreneur makes a positive profit by moving goods and passengers from one place to another. It raises the country's income, which is also a sign of growth.

Safety and Security Services

Many forms of insecurities have been caused by industrialization so every individual, every industrialist, organization, and nation desires safety, security, and protection. While the government provides security through various acts, those efforts have only partially succeeded. Private businessmen have begun offering security services under these conditions as well. The entrepreneurs set up private sector security agencies through the deployment of ex-army personnel, guards, peons, clerks, watchmen, and managers, etc. In this way more job opportunities are developed.

THE WAY FORWARD

Due of the lack of a trained workforce, these sustainable practices are yet to generate feasible job prospects, although many initiatives understand the need for sustainable practices, implementation has always been a challenge. For the generation of urban jobs along with advances in the nature of such interventions itself is needed an integrated strategy that cuts through various sectors and government departments. The other main concern is funding and developing ties with the private sector for corporate social responsibility funds and green jobs fellowship programs. This approach will also create a platform for employing the newly developed workforce by green skills. The Government-launched Skill Council for Green Jobs is a national program that has developed courses in sectors such as renewable energy, green infrastructure and solid waste management. The council also works closely with companies to ensure they hire the skilled workers.

Finally, perceptions of green jobs need to be improved for those associated with such sectors as waste management and sanitation for example, have a negative perception in society and might not align with the aspirations of job seekers. One way to overcome this may be by incorporating value-added training as well as skill-building. English language instruction, organizational skills, computer literacy particularly for trainee students, accounting and bookkeeping may be added to the modules to match applicants' ambitions.