CAIT and Meta expand WhatsApp se Wyapaar

Hyderabad: Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and Meta are expanding their ‘WhatsApp Se Wyapaar’ program in an effort to empower small businesses across the country and to digitally train and upskill 10 million local traders on the WhatsApp business app.

The partnership is another step in empowering the thriving trade community by enabling them to deliver to new-age consumer requirements by adapting to and adopting technology levers to India’s socio-economic development. The goal is to localise digitisation efforts to unleash growth opportunities for businesses with hyper-local digital training in 11 Indian languages across all 29 Indian states.

Leveraging its wide network of 40,000 trade associations and 80 million traders across India, CAIT will conduct a series of workshops designed to provide comprehensive digital and skill training to equip businesses with the essential knowledge to help digitise their storefronts and build their ‘digital dukaan’ on the WhatsApp business app, including educating them on the tools and features available on the app like catalog, quick replies, click to Whatsapp ads, that make it easier for small businesses to connect with their customers efficiently.

The partnership will also accelerate CAIT’s digital skilling charter for the trading community by giving 25,000 traders access to the Meta Small Business Academy. A certification by Meta Small Business Academy will especially help new entrepreneurs and marketers gain critical digital marketing skills to grow on the Meta apps. To enable the program to reach MSMEs across India, the course module and the examination are available in seven languages - English, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu.

Praveen Khandelwal, National Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), said “With rapidly evolving business needs, technology can be a significant enabler for growth. We believe that with the right tools to upskill themselves, traders across India can benefit from learning newer ways of growing their businesses. The reach and success that the WhatsApp Business App can offer are unparalleled"

He added, "We are excited to expand our partnership with Meta on ‘WhatsApp Se Vyapaar’ program, which is designed to upskill 10 million traders across 29 states in India. This partnership will help traders and businesses build a more comprehensive customer base, scale their business, and contribute even further to India’s growing digital economy."

Nick Clegg, President, Global Affairs, Meta said, “This is an era of entrepreneurship in India. India is experiencing a digital revolution, and the way Indian entrepreneurs and small businesses have embraced technologies like WhatsApp is a huge part of that. We want to keep helping entrepreneurs and small businesses to make the most of the opportunities ahead and continue to be at the heart of India’s Techade.”