Since 2022, a new relationship has formed in India’s e-commerce world: small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which have been working under resource constraints for some time, have tapped into the AI wave — quietly and are getting some serious traction.
Whether it’s democratized AI tools like ChatGPT, or even microbrands, there are whole SMEs in Tier-2 towns that now use machine learning to deliver product recommendations, demand forecasting, customer support, or inventory management. The result: they are delivering more personalized experiences, more efficiency, and are narrowing the gap between small e-com competitors and its corporate counterparts.
Imagine a handcrafted tea vendor in Guwahati sending you an email that automatically recommended a new Assam chai blend from your last sip-and-scroll session. Or an artist in Udaipur, who makes ceramics, improving her stock records with predictive inventory tools so she never over-sells.
And, these regional chatbots backed by AI are bringing support around the clock and to local preferences – so whether you ping in Hindi, Tamil, or Marathi the chatbots will reply back in regional language support. And it’s not just chatbots that are going regional: voice commerce is too. Customers are asking for “best oiled rice in Odia”, and getting results, all due to the vernacular training on AI.
In 2025, these AI led SMEs will not only survive, but thrive. They will compete through scale, not just price, and will break through into markets that were previously only seen as unattainable.
Bad news for the big players? This competition is not coming from a boardroom but from the next lane over. These guerrilla entrepreneurs are using AI to level the playing field, and allowing them to go into battle without spending millions. For customers, this means hyper-localized offerings in regional language styles and regional language support, and surprise quality at surprise pricing.
So, next time you are online shopping and you land upon a really tiny handcrafted brand that just makes sense to you – congratulations – you just became part of India’s ecosystem of small local SMEs through the power of AI. The future may not just be flash branding, wrapper effect pricing, etc., but it will be local and personal, and smarter.
