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Home > Blog > Know it All about India’s Mega E-Commerce Summit – Saral 2022

E-commerce is rich in history right from its invention back in May 1989 by Sequoia Crop, wherein it unveiled Compumarket, the first internet-based system for e-commerce. Our boosting global economy has swiftly declared e-commerce as an inevitable component of the business strategy and a catalyst for effective economic development.

Developing an e-commerce business is one thing but keeping it going strong is an altogether separate entity to consider. While most businesses are curious to know the outcomes of dipping their hands in a full-fledged e-commerce platform, it’s always an excellent option to know from the leaders in the industry, highlighting what the journey is like. How do things work for the e-commerce industry? And, how exactly does an existing business ride smooth and strong through the thorny trials? To address the new segment of questions & queries, we’re back in action!

Unicommerce presents Saral 2022, India’s Mega E-commerce Summit. Our first in-person edition was held on September 9, 2022, at JLN Stadium, New Delhi from 9 AM – 7 PM IST.

What’s Saral 2022?


Saral by Unicommerce is designed to bring together industry leaders to share their experiences, best use cases, and world-leading insights, enabling brands, retailers, and sellers with best industry practices. It enables the entire industry to move forward into a new role of e-commerce and retail through innovation and sustainability.

Saral has been taken to a new level now in 2022 to meet today’s operational challenges, and strategies to achieve tomorrow’s success. Businesses get an opportunity to delve into the e-commerce world and discover the trends that will dominate the e-commerce landscape in 2022. The mega e-commerce summit covers everything from warehousing to marketing management, automation to shipping logistics, and payment processing to fulfillment showcasing innovations for omnichannel and D2C operations & fulfillment success.

The event included more than ten insightful panel discussions and fireside chats catering to everything e-commerce.

Our Proud Sponsors, Partners, and Guests to make things easier & better

We’ve joined hands with the industry leaders, facilitating us in restructuring our action plan and attaining greater heights.

  • Chief Guest – Shri Anil Agrawal, Additional secretary, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
  • Guest of Honor – Mr. Shireesh Joshi, Chief business officer of ONDC
  • Co-Sponsor – Shipyaari
  • Powered-by Partner – Shipway
  • Platinum Partners – Upriver and Payoneer
  • Gold Partners – NimbusPost, ANS Commerce and Snapmint
  • Silver Partners – Voila, Wizzy, Netcore, Velocity, The Picture Factory, Ascezen Consulting, Chainway Solution, Adyogi, SaleAssist, Tally, Pinnacle Works (SuperBot), Quick Shift, and Eco360.co.in, Ascezen Consulting
  • Gifting Partners – mCaffeine, Amrutum, Portronics, Indian Gifting portal (IGP) and Svish
  • Delegate Kit Partners – Power Gummies, Innovist, Campus Sutra, Reequil, ShoeTree, MasQ by Qone, Mi Arcus, Bacca Bucci, Earth Rhythm, Arata and Jpearl
  • Exhibit Partners – DTDC, Gxpress, Xitamin, Parshotam & Associates, EshopBox, Logitax, Optiply, Task Tracker, Trust Signal & Naaptol
  • Digital Partner – Mirth Media Group
  • Media Partner – Indian Retailer

The Day-Long itinerary of insightful Panel Discussions and Fireside Chats

The eminent speakers, partners and delegates also received plenty of give-aways and freebies by our Exhibit Partners, Gifting Partners & Delegate Kit partners, making it not just an insightful day-long summit but a rewarding opportunity at the same time.

Inaugural Session & Fireside Chat on ONDC

We started the day with auspicious lamp-lighting ceremony and welcome notes by Mr. Kapil Makhija, CEO, Unicommerce; Mr. Nayan Ratandhayara, CEO, Shipyaari & Mr. Gaurav Gupta, Co-Founder, Shipway sharing their thoughts about the day-long summit with the delegates followed by an insightful Fireside chat between Mr. Kapil Makhija & Mr. Shireesh Joshi, CBO, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

The chat commenced on the topic of “How ONDC will be a game changer for India’s e-commerce Industry” Mr. Shireesh kickstarted the chat by explaining how ONDC will soon be the brand influencing the entire nation’s e-commerce landscape. During the discussion, Joshi said, “We have built ONDC as a flexible capability that allows a combination of many elements of a jigsaw to come together and interact with each other. With ONDC, e-commerce will change from a fixed predefined solution to a flexible system where buyers and sellers can connect based on their requirements. Just the way payments are made using UPI where two parties are transacting with each other on a unified network but through different banking channels, ONDC will empower e-commerce brands and sellers by providing them access to a much wider audience”

Panel Discussion: Gen Z retail entrepreneurs – Redefining e-commerce with Technology

Eminent Panelists – Ms. Kunjal Thakkar, Associate Director, PwC (Moderator); Mr. Kapil Mittal, Chief Strategy Officer, Power Gummies; Mr. Vikas Kapoor, Co-Founder of MasQ by Q-One; Mr. Balwant Singh Chauhan, Deputy General Manager-Sales, Tally; Mr. Shayakh Mirza, VP – Digital & Ecommerce; PHD Media; & Mr. Yash Jain, Founder & CEO, Nimbuspost.

The panel discussion brought together leading entrepreneurs to share their experience and insights on how this new age Gen Z entrepreneurs can create a sustainable business model while enhancing unitechnomics through various business functionalities.

Fireside Chat: Dr. Vaidya’s Growth Story with Shipyaari

Eminent Panelists – Mr. Vishal Totla, Chief Operating Officer, Shipyaari (Moderator) and Mr. Arjun Vaidya, Founder at Dr. Vaidya’s (acquired) & Venture Lead at Verlinvest

The chat revealed the secret behind Dr. Vaidya’s growth story with Shipyaari. The highs and lows of the growth journey and how the brand managed to stay in line with the increasing marketing demands, maintaining its growth graph alongside.

Panel Discussion: New-age e-Commerce Marketing: How to Pick Winning Digital Channels

Eminent Panelists – Mr. Rahul Karwa, Chief Transformation Officer, Shipyaari (Moderator); Mr. Sumit Bansal, Head of Growth, Adyogi; Ms. Harini Sivakumar, CEO, Earth Rhythm; Mr. Kaushik Tibrewal, Co-founder, Campus Sutra; Mr. Sidhant Keshwani, CEO, Libas; & Mr. Durgesh Anand, Product Manager, Physics Wallah

The panel of industry leaders discussed picking the new-age digital channels to foster brand growth. The growing e-commerce market makes it tough to fetch consumer attention and with new brands entering the market, companies require a smart tech-driven marketing approach that allows them to reduce customer acquisition costs and help them drive consistent business growth with value for every dollar spent. The session focused on what is new-age e-commerce marketing and how to pick the right and more suitable digital channels for marketing.

Panel Discussion: Post Pandemic – Is it a new era or was it a short term growth trend in E-commerce?

Eminent Panelists – Mr. Sankalp Bhattacharjya, Partner & Leads Deals Strategy & Operations, PwC (Moderator); Mr. Nayan Ratandhayara, CEO, Shipyaari; Mr. Baqar Naqvi, Founder & CEO, Upriver; Mr. Vipul Gupta, Director, Reequil; Mr. Kartik Seth, Founder & CEO, Foxy; & Mr. Ishan Grover, Founder, Svish

The panel discussed about – is it a new era or was it a short-term growth trend in e-commerce. The session focused on the question if the growth trends in the e-commerce industry in the post-pandemic era are going to be just short-term gains or fruits to ripe profits for long.

Fireside Chat: Break Ecommerce Shipping Barriers with All in One Shipping App with Shipway

Eminent Panelists – Ms. Pakhi Saxena, Practice Head, Retail CPG, Wazir Advisors (Moderator) & Mr. Vikas Garg, Co-Founder, Shipway

The chat was held on a discussion about breaking e-commerce shipping barriers with the help of an all-in-one shipping application- Shipway. Most of the time, logistics have always been the major issue with loosened loops of track, order damage, displacements, and more, Shipway is committed to getting stuff sorted and making the process completely aligned.

Fireside Chat: Smashing the Growth Ceiling on Marketplaces with Upriver

Participants – Eminent Panelists: Ms. Charu Lamba, Deputy Editor, Franchise India (Moderator); Mr. Baqar Naqvi, Founder & CEO, Upriver and Mr. Mohit Jain, Founder & COO, Upriver

The chat focused on the topic “Smashing the growth ceiling on the marketplace with Upriver”. In the exclusive interactive session, the chat marked great information being shared regarding tapping the growth aspect for achieving success in multiple marketplaces management.

Panel Discussion: Dark Stores – Redefining Logistics in E-commerce

Eminent Panelists – Mr. Mohit Jain, Founder & COO, Upriver (Moderator); Mr. Amit Upadhyay, Head of Products- B2C, Healthkart; Mr. Tamil Rajan, Mentor, Shipyaari; Mr. Ankur Gupta, COO, Indian Gifting Portal (IGP); Mr. Naman Vijay, Co-Founder, Clickpost; & Mr. Sachin Singhal, Co-Founder & COO, Ek Anek (Foxy)

The discussion highlighted how dark stores are redefining logistics in the e-commerce industry. Making a clear mark on the importance and increasing role of dark stores in the logistics aspect of the e-commerce industry, the speakers shared their thoughts on the same.

Welcome Note by Mr. Kunal Bahl & Keynote Address by Chief Guest

The insightful day got more interesting when we welcomed our Hon’ble Chief Guest Shri Anil Agarwal, Additional Secretary, Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India for his keynote, followed by a lamp lighting ceremony with welcome & closing notes of Mr. Kunal Bahl, Co-Founder, Snapdeal & AceVector Group alongside Mr. Kapil Makhija, CEO, Unicommerce.

Presentation: Global Expansion Made Easy with Payoneer

Eminent Speakers – Ms. Sapna Dandona, Lead, Direct Sales (B2B Services), Payoneer

In the stand-alone presentation, Ms. Dandona discussed how Payoneer in itself is a game changer in making global expansion easier than ever.

Panel Discussion: Building a Profitable and Scalable D2C brand

Eminent Panelists – Mr. Ayush Gupta, Director – Digital, KPMG (Moderator); Mr. Bhisham Bhateja, Co-Founder, The Man Company; Mr. Rohit Chawla, Founder & CEO, Innovist; Mr. Gaurav Gupta, Co-Founder, Shipway; Mr. Amit Monga, Co-Founder, ANS Commerce; & Mr. Abhineet Sawa, Founder, Snapmint

The discussion focused on the topic “Building a profitable and scalable D2C brand”. Having an informative session altogether, the discussion addressed the key levers of building a profitable and scalable D2C brand.

Brand Felicitation

  • Breakthrough Brand of the Year” in the category- Beauty and Wellness is Helioslifestyle – The Man Company
  • Breakthrough Brand of the Year” in the category Electronics is Portronics
  • Breakthrough Brand of the Year” in the category FMCG – Nutraj
  • Breakthrough Brand of the Year” in the category- Health & Pharma is Kapiva
  • Breakthrough Brand of the Year” in the category- Fashion is Libas
  • Breakthrough Brand of the Year” in the category- Footwear is Paragon
  • Breakthrough Brand of the Year” in the category Kids Wear and Baby Care – Mi Arcus
  • Breakthrough Brand of the year in Omnichannel category – Faballey

Partner Felicitation

  • Unicommerce is felicitating Snapmint as an Enterprise Partner in the Financial Services category
  • Unicommerce is felicitating ANS Commerce as an Enterprise Partner in the D2C category
  • Digital marketing: Adyogi
  • Omni channel – Logic
  • Expert in e-commerce enablement: Upriver E-commerce Pvt Ltd
  • Business Management Software: Tally
  • Diamond Partners: Ascezen Consulting Pvt Ltd
  • Diamond DSA partners: Growth Decoders
  • Platinum DSA Partner: Upriver E-commerce Pvt Ltd
  • Platinum Partner: Webdaksha solutions pvt ltd
  • Gold Award: Fiber to Fashion
  • Gold DSA Award: Xitamin Solutions Pvt Ltd.
  • Silver Award: Funku Retail
  • Silver DSA Award: Trimates Technologies Pvt Ltd

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