Zoho launches Vikra and Zoho IoT and reports 31% increase in customers in India

Zoho has launched Vikra, a seller app on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) network and Zoho IoT, a user-friendly and scalable low-code platform enabling businesses to build and deploy custom IoT (Internet of Things) solutions. The company also said that it saw a customer growth of 31% in 2023 in India. The announcements were made on the sidelines of Zoholics India, the company's annual user conference.

 "We remain steadfast in our product R&D efforts, with a focus on effectively enhancing our platform through innovating and launching new products like Vikra and Zoho IoT while also integrating AI capabilities across the tech stack. We have steadily advanced on our contextual intelligence vision, applying AI technology to enhance customer experience and offer deeper insights. This commitment to continuous improvement is helping us become a preferred partner for large enterprises and government institutions across India. As businesses increasingly seek value from their software solutions and larger organisations aim to reduce bloat, we're seeing significant growth in India, which has now become our second-largest market," said Sridhar Vembu, CEO and Co-founder, Zoho Corp.

E-commerce has immense potential to empower MSMEs in the country, yet, they make for just 7% of the overall retail market. This significant gap is mainly due to smaller businesses struggling with complexities in the use of technology, and facing various challenges in operating on marketplace platforms, including heavy commission fees. To address this, Zoho has launched Vikra, a seller app on the ONDC network that enables frictionless commerce across India. 

Vikra is designed to function as the crucial bridge connecting businesses to the vast expanse of India's market through the ONDC network. This initiative not only aligns with Zoho's tradition of empowering businesses but also enhances their reach, making market accessibility frictionless. Businesses using the app can get onboarded to the ONDC network easily, set up stores, create product catalogues, and start selling quickly through popular buyer apps like Paytm, Ola, and Snapdeal. They can also receive instant order notifications on WhatsApp and SMS for speedy fulfilment. They have options to self-deliver or deliver via partners like Delhivery on the ONDC network locally and nationally. Vikra also offers personalised support for onboarding, cataloguing, managing operations, reconciling payment settlement from the ONDC network, and resolving customer disputes.

Built on Zoho's finance and operations platform, Vikra enables seamless interoperability with other applications such as Zoho Books, Zoho Inventory and Zoho Commerce. This allows businesses to manage their finances, handle taxes, streamline their inventory operations, and build an e-commerce store. Vikra is an end-to-end solution for businesses of any size, simplifying their e-commerce journey, and helping them become more visible in the market with significantly less investment and effort.           

 Zoho IoT seamlessly collects and manages IoT device data in real time, offering businesses insights and streamlined operational analysis. Its intuitive features empower organisations to automate processes and make data-driven decisions effortlessly, without the need for extensive technical expertise. The platform's AI capabilities transform data into actionable insights, predict system outages, identify anomalies or forecast trends, optimize operations, and enhance customer experiences.

Zoho IoT integrates with Zoho’s existing suite of applications, providing enhanced visibility and control. Its compatibility with third-party hardware allows for quick integration into existing infrastructures, enabling businesses to scale rapidly as they grow. The platform is built with robust security measures, ensuring data privacy and compliance with global standards.