Hyderabad, Jan. 23 -- Small local businesses across India are increasingly losing customers to large online delivery and marketplace apps, as consumer behaviour shifts toward digital convenience. From kirana stores and bakeries to salons and neighbourhood clinics, merchants are struggling to compete with platforms that offer instant discovery but often at the cost of high commissions and reduced control.
While online apps bring visibility, they also create dependency, forcing local sellers to absorb heavy platform fees and follow rigid systems. Many neighbourhood businesses lack the resources, technical expertise or budgets to establish a digital presence independently, widening the digital divide between hyperlocal stores and aggregator-l...