Why DukaanSethu exists
India has more than 60 million small businesses. Less than 5% of them have a digital storefront. Every day, millions of shop owners — kirana, sweets, salon, tailor, hardware, tuition — send price screenshots and product photos to customers on WhatsApp because that's the only digital channel they actually use. It works. But it doesn't scale.
The big platforms either ignore them, or charge ₹2,000+ per month for software meant for D2C brands. We thought there should be something built specifically for the shopkeeper who runs the corner store and answers "rate kya hai?" fifty times a day. DukaanSethu is that thing.
What we actually do
For ₹999 setup plus ₹299/month, we give a shopkeeper a real WhatsApp Business catalog, a Facebook page, a printable QR poster, and a public storefront URL. All in their language. All set up in 60 seconds via a WhatsApp message. UPI payments built in. Cancel anytime, no questions asked.
We're not a marketplace. We don't take a cut of the shopkeeper's sales. They keep 100% of what they sell — we charge a small monthly fee for the tooling, the same way you'd pay for electricity.
Who builds it
Aware Consultants is a Bangalore-based digital and infrastructure consultancy. We started in 1990 as Astro Computers, building one of the first commercial websites in India. We rebranded to Aware Consultants in 2005. Since then we've shipped client work across hosting, networking, infrastructure, web and mobile development, UI/UX, and (since 2020) data science and AI for healthcare and financial institutions.
Our work has powered businesses like reachDr, denovonow, Standard Machinery, MyHeartNet, Tallyscan, and Syndeyo. DukaanSethu is our first direct-to-customer product, and we're building it the way we'd want it built if we were the customer: clear pricing, no lock-in, refund if it doesn't work for you.
Our principles
- Money back if you don't get an order in 30 days. We call it the Pinky Promise. It's on our refund page.
- No data lock-in. Your WhatsApp catalog and Facebook page belong to you — not us. If you cancel, they stay live on your Meta account.
- Built in your language. 12 Indian languages supported on day one. The shopkeeper-facing flow is in the language they're most comfortable in.
- Indian payment rails. UPI Autopay for subscriptions. UPI for customer payments. No card processing surcharges, no foreign payment processors.
Milestones
| Year | What we did |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Founded as Astro Computers. Shipped one of the first commercial websites in India. |
| 2005 | Rebranded to Aware Consultants. |
| 2008 | Listed in the Ubuntu marketplace as an authorized OS distributor. |
| 2016 | Expanded to the Americas via Avatara Consulting; entered software dev + UI/UX. |
| 2020 | Started offering data science + AI for healthcare and financial institutions. |
| 2026 | Launched DukaanSethu — our first direct-to-customer product. |
By the numbers
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1990 (as Astro Computers; rebranded to Aware Consultants in 2005) |
| Headquarters | Bangalore, India |
| Legal entity | Aware Consultants (Sole Proprietorship) |
| GST registration | 29AEDPR3291M1ZV |
| CIN (if applicable) | Not applicable (Proprietorship) |
| Customer support languages | Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Oriya, Urdu, English |
| Compliance | DPDP Act 2023 compliant · GST registered · Meta Business Solution Provider |
Get in touch
The fastest way to reach us is on WhatsApp — that's where our customers are, and that's where we are too. You can also email hello@dukaansethu.com or read the full Contact page.
If you're a journalist, partner, or just curious about the product — drop us a line. We try to reply within one business day.