Online retail is worth over $ 3.1 billion, or 10% of the organized retail market, and is estimated to grow to a staggering $22 billion, or over 15% of the organized retail market in the next five years, according to a report by brokerage firm CLSA.
That’s a lot of money! So we know the boom has come and gone are the years where e-commerce startups were struggling to establish presence and source investment, which is not more than 3 years back, we must also keep that in mind. But today India with its 3rd largest internet user base of over 200 million users across towns, big and small, even villages owing to the penetration of smartphones has become the apple of the global eye when it comes to the business of conducting commerce online.
But what’s in it for us young entrepreneurs with no large capital investment or resources to set up an e-commerce front… knowing the following the things:
Investment awaits
From Indian investors like Kae Capital, Kalaari Capital among many other angel investment firms to global giants like the US’ s Blackrock, Singapore’s Temasek, China’s Alibaba are all lining up to invest in India’s e-commerce industry. And they are not just lending to industry leaders like Flipkart and Myntra but also to smaller firms like Shephertz, squeakee, Eventifier, Urbantouch, Indiaplaza, Dutyfreemall, Ovenfresh, Triphobo… so many of these names you might not have heard before. Your start up could be on this list!
Variety of Businesses
One of the biggest early critiques for the Indian e-commerce industry was the limited range of products being sold and bought using an e-trade. But that has changed now with success stories like BigBasket, Zivame, Indian users are ready to fulfill all their shopping needs on the internet. They have gotten use to trusting e-commerce sites and making purchase decisions without having touched, worn, smelled, tasted, held the product which means you can practically sell anything on the internet, including services.
Buyouts
Myntra was bought over by Flipkart at over $300 million which was a little less than double its estimated market value at the time. Larger companies are willing to invest and buyout smaller firms with potential, which doesn’t mean you start a business with the intention of selling it, but that’s always a prospect if your offering is unique and holds value.
Endless selling opportunities
24*7 open shutter, sales across boundaries and geographical limitations, Cross-sells, upsells, volume sales, sales through other multi-selling online outlets, blogs, social media marketing… the marketing potential in e-commerce is more than immense.
And you don’t just need to know about it, but plan to utilize each of these avenues when you set up your e-commerce shop.
Consumers willing to trust new names
There is no lineage or time value attached to e-commerce yet which means you could a 3-year-old company, or a month old venture, if your product holds value, and you sales channels are credible and secure people are willing to use your outlet. We have already given you a list of not so recognized venture names that running e-commerce shops. They are making sales.
Large audience base that awaits with no prejudice, tap them. Let no stupendous opportunity lie dormant!
