Local stores are a key part of the retail ecosystem in India. To transform lakhs of local stores into digital dukaans, Amazon India announced the launch of Smart Commerce during the third edition of Amazon Smbhav. Smart Commerce is an important step towards realizing the company’s pledge to digitize 1 crore small businesses by 2025.

Over 11 lakh sellers currently sell on Amazon.in from across India, with over 1.5 lakh local offline stores who are part of the Local Shops on Amazon program. With Smart Commerce, local stores can now go a notch higher and digitize their offline operations. Stores of any size can now reap the benefits of Amazon’s shopping innovations, logistics, digital payments, and more to serve customers wherever they are — in their offline stores, directly through their own online storefront, or on Amazon.in.

“We are humbled by how neighborhood stores from across India are taking advantage of our Local Shops on Amazon program to go online and grow their business, with over 1.5 lakh stores already selling on Amazon.in within two years of launch. Today, we are excited to launch Smart Commerce that will enable any store to truly become a digital dukaan, and serve customers with the best of Amazon no matter where they are – in their physical store, directly through their own online storefront, or on Amazon.in. We are just getting started and remain committed to our pledge to digitize 1 crore small businesses by 2025,” says Amit Agarwal, SVP, India and Emerging Markets, Amazon.

In the coming weeks, Smart Commerce will release its first set of solutions to help local stores digitize billing and inventory management. This will be followed by the launch of capabilities that will enable local stores to create their own online storefront within minutes and serve their customers through a simple voice and chat-based shopping experience.