Awareness and Participation of Small Retail Businesses in Cashless Transactions: An Empirical Study
Awareness and Participation of Small Retail Businesses in Cashless Transactions: An Empirical Study

Summary/Abstract: The ambitious drive of the Government of India to transform the Indianeconomy from a cash based economy to a cashless economy was contingent in a bigway on the people’s acceptance of cashless modes of transactions, adaptability tocashless transactions and change in the transaction behavior of consumers andretailers, besides several other factors. As the small retailers form the bulk of the Indianretail sector, their ability to go cashless, their psychological preparedness and theirwillingness to adopt cashless transactions become an issue of prime importance in themovement towards cashless. The present study was conducted to assess the awarenessof the small retailers regarding the cashless transaction and its modes, to understandtheir apprehensions and perceived convenience in dealing with a cashless system of thetransaction and to measure their extent of participation in cashless transactions. Thestudy was conducted in Bareilly, an important city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, with apopulation of around ten lakhs. Data for the study was obtained from 117 retailersusing a structured questionnaire. The study found that though a significant number ofsmall retailers were aware of the possibility of the cashless transaction and its modes,their frequency of engaging in cashless transactions was abysmally less as compared tothat of cash based transactions. They were found to believe that dealing with cash waseasier in comparison to handling cashless transactions. Fear of losing money due to thefaulty transaction was found to be a major deterrent in going cashless amongst thesmall retailers surveyed during the study.

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