Small businesses are using low-cost marketing tools on the internet to gain customers in global markets. These companies that sell a range of products such as apparel, home accessories and party supplies use products such as Google keywords with budgets as low as $3 (Rs 150) a day.
"We have received over 200 sales leads via Google in six months," said Tenzin Thargay, founder of Mumbai-based GetMy-Meal .in. In Jodhpur, Bharatplaza.com, which makes wedding suits, has built up revenues of Rs 10 crore with customers spread across the United States, United Kingdom and Australia without appointing any local sales managers.
"I plan to spend about Rs 60 lakh on marketing online this year," said Lalit Khatri, founder of Bharatplaza , who revived a flagging business by growing sales online. As more entrepreneurs such as Khatri and Thargay, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, turn to online tools, India is emerging as the fastest growing market for Google across Asia.
"We see more growth in Asia from small and medium businesses than we do from anywhere else in the world," said Karim Temsamani, President, Asia-Pacific at Google. There are an estimated 120 million small and medium enterprises in the region. Indian firms such as Chumbak, which sells home accessories, are also focusing on new markets such as Japan. Vivek Prabhakar, CEO of Chumbak.com, says his virtual store sells to customers in 150 locations across Japan just through web marketing.