As the Pandemic Boom Comes to an End, Startups Shift From Digital to Physical

Every day, nearly 80 startups are registered in India, and the number has increased in recent years. Every other startup saw Pandemic investing and marketing their strong online presence as if it would last forever. Now that the pandemic craze has subsided, edtech startups like Byju's, Unacademy, and Vedantu, as well as furniture retailers like Pepperfry and Wakefit, are focusing on expanding their offline presence - into brick and mortar stores, or in some cases, launching their own stores.

Experts believe that consumer startups should open offline stores because of brand creation, expansion, and a large offline market.“In India online is still 10-12% of the total commerce and 85-90% is still offline, which is a much larger pie. Online businesses are coming offline for multiple reasons -- brand creation, expansion, market is much larger offline so one wants to have a share of the pie,” Amit Nawka, partner – deals and India startup leader at PwC India told Business Insider India.

Consumers are looking for a personal touch and visiting stores after the pandemic, which is proving difficult for consumer startups. Most cash-rich online businesses are acquiring businesses to help them quickly establish an offline presence. It's already visible in the edtech space, where students have developed screen fatigue over the course of the pandemic's two years.