We know, most of the companies are struggling during the period of the pandemic. Many of them are turning to collapse and many of them already collapsed.
It largely affects small businesses because they sustain based on their income, and it showed a big dip and don’t have much to anticipate after the pandemic. According to the report of All India Manufacturers organization, 35 percent of MSMEs and 37 percent of self-employed have begun closing their businesses. It clearly shows how severe the pandemic is and the effect subsequent lockdown has been on the MSMEs. While several parts of the country have emerged out of the lockdown, these businesses are still struggling to come out.
So Google steps forward to help the small businesses who are suffering from the impacts of the pandemic. In a press release, they mentioned that they have launched grow with Google Small business hub in India. Under Google’s initiative, most of the MSMEs will get access to all Google products and tools and with the help of these, the MSMEs can go digital and enjoy continuous access to resources like quick help videos and support pages to learn digital skills.
Some of the features and functionalities introduced by google are depicted below
The national roll-out of ‘ Nearby stores’ spot on google pay is one of the initiatives of google to help the small businesses, through these local businesses get discovered by customers in their vicinity. This feature was introduced in May and it is expanding across India. Another initiative is merchant loans on Google pay, now a large number of merchants are using Google pay for a business app to accept and make payments digitally. It is also working as a partner to the financial institution to surface their loans offering for merchants, which can be availed right within google pay for business app. Another feature is stand out on google maps, for free, a new offering called promoted pins on Google maps will help the businesses stand out during these moments by displaying a prominent, square-shaped pin. The exciting thing is business owners can highlight specific services such as pickup and delivery, or another unique offering to make the shop convenient.
