The Article is contributed By Lucas Johnson, Associate Vice President, Zippo Global Marketing
The ecommerce industry is constantly evolving, and this year has witnessed several interesting trends. More than ever, brands are creating and improving their ecommerce businesses to become accessible to customers wherever they are. An aftermath of the pandemic, the work-from-home policy has encouraged changes in consumer behavior, driving offline customer footfall to online stores.
Here are few trends which I think will share the ecommerce in the coming future.
A majority of eCommerce businesses are building mobile-first strategies as mobile traffic continues to rise. Mobile peer-to-peer (P2P) payment systems make it easy and convenient to conduct business from smartphones, while SMS (text-based) marketing makes it easier to connect with customers to drive repeat business, provide order information, and reduce abandoned carts.
The real frontier here is personalization. This not only refers to product personalization (“Nike by You”, for example), but also personalized experiences on e-comm sites for consumers. Smart brands are tailoring their owned e-comm content to each consumer based on their buying cues and interests.
People love eCommerce loyalty programs because they reward regular customers for repeat purchases in the form of cash-back, discounts and next-purchase coupons. Loyalty programs provide brands with user data which help them understand their customers’ buying behavior and accordingly curate special offers for customers based on their unique purchase history. These programs help improve the rate of customer retention and contribute to increase in sale.
Trend 3: Social Selling
Social media gave rise to the influencer and their ability to promote brands and products to a devoted audience. Social media platforms are now blurring the lines between e-commerce shops and social media, making it easier for both brands and influencers to convert followers into customers via shoppable posts. Instagram and Pinterest are two strong examples of where social selling is flourishing, but now TikTok takes this a step further with the rise of livestream selling, where brand representatives or influencers offer live, sometimes around-the-clock, video of product demonstrations, testimonials, and exclusive reveals. This new form of selling has taken over China and has begun to appear in other global markets and regions through Amazon Live and other sites.
Growth of Indian Advertising Industry
Trend 4: Sustainability
Driving a business to achieve eCommerce sustainability means building a brand that supports environmentally friendly practices; from green packaging to more eco-friendly shipping. Not only is it the right thing to do for the planet, but it’s a critical concern for many consumers. Going green might help brands expand their market share while helping make the earth more habitable.
Trend 5: Integration within Metaverse and other Gaming Platforms
Meta’s social VR platform Horizon hit 300,000 users – a 10x increase in just about three months. Although it’s not quite ready for advertising and in-world eCommerce sales, that’s coming soon! Many popular global brands are planning to sell virtual, branded goods to consumers via this new age platform. Meanwhile, other gaming systems will open their platforms to eCommerce sales. This is an innovative space that offers tremendous visibility, especially for reaching younger demographics
Brands today are facing a world of opportunity to evolve, with success coming from big and small steps alike. Most successful brands are setting themselves apart by selling direct to consumers while aligning themselves with a broader sensibility. This includes their approach to product development, customer experience, marketing, community building and distribution strategies. It is imperative for e-commerce business owners today, to keep abreast of industry trends to stay competitive and identify new opportunities that will drive growth for the business in the near future.
With growing internet penetration and disposable incomes, the people of India are experiencing a massive change in their shopping habits. People from all fronts are using their smartphones to buy products and items. With the big three — Amazon, Walmart, and Alibaba, entering the Ecommerce sector of India, the market is slowly maturing and expanding its footprint to the most remote locations across the country. This market for Ecommerce in India is further estimated to witness another transformation with the spread of the all-new ONDC concept that is still new in its approach and promises to make ground-breaking changes.
According to an analysis, the Ecommerce Industry in India grew from 4% of the total population in 2007 to around 40% in 2017, clearly indicating the rise of the internet era in the world’s fastest-growing economy. The growth of the Ecommerce market in India is expected to further be registered at around $188 billion by 2025. This industry would again rise to reach $350 billion by 2030, as per the latest statistical reports. This internet boom is directly proportional to the emergence of Ecommerce in India and other internet-based domains.
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This post analyzes the current scenario and the future of Ecommerce in India.
Projected Ecommerce Revenue of India from 2017-2027
This success story started in 2007 with the inception of India’s most successful startup, Flipkart. Initially, companies found it tough to encourage people to shop online but with advancing technology, logistics, and payment methods supported by various offers and sales, people slowly drifted to this convenient mode of online shopping. Internet penetration and easily available data, fuelled by the low costs were and continue to be the most prominent factors encouraging this trend.
Ecommerce in India is expected to touch $200 billion by 2025 from the figure of around $40 billion in 2017. The internet economy, on the other hand, is expected to hit $1 trillion by 2030, majorly riding on the Ecommerce wave. Seeing this potential, Amazon, Walmart, and Alibaba started heavily investing in India and building a strong presence. Various domestic players like Snapdeal, Shopclues, Infibeam, etc. are also a part of this organized and exponentially growing Ecommerce segment in India. Though some of them might not be standing tall enough at the present moment, they always have a chance to bounce back though. Also, as a result of the domain of Ecommerce being broad enough to nourish many other subdomains, the Indian ecosystem of Ecommerce has seen the growth of both men and successful women entrepreneurs, with many more opportunities ahead.
Growth Of Amazon In India
Annual Net Sales Revenue Worldwide of Amazon from 2004 to 2021
Amazon expanded its footprints in India by promising to invest $5 billion, and until now it has pumped in more than $6.5 billion. These investments are being used for expanding its portfolio by bringing various sellers onto its platform, building and leasing warehouses for storage, improving logistics, offering heavy discounts to acquire new customers, and foraying into new verticals like grocery and payments wallet.
In 2017, Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos stated that Amazon’s app was the most downloaded shopping app in India. Moreover, the company’s loyalty program—Amazon prime—was adopted in India at a much faster rate than in any other country. Its international losses as of April 2018 were $622 million and the revenue was $14.08 billion, whereas a year back the figures were, $481 million and $11.06 billion respectively. Amazon.com had $469.80 billion in revenue in 2021. Amazon is also focusing on improving its smart AI-based speaker, Amazon Echo. Alexa, Amazon’s voice-controlled personal assistant, is being trained to understand and focus on the Indian dialect and vernacular languages.
Amazon now has options for Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, and Marathi on its website and app to conquer customers from tier-2, tier-3, and rural areas where English is not widely used or taught. With a growing focus on improving customer service through setting up various fulfillment centers and faster logistics, Amazon is working to counter its local competitor Flipkart which was bought by Walmart and Paytm Mall. It is going to provide drone-based delivery very soon. With its increasing investments despite heavy losses, Amazon strongly believes that today’s investment of Re 1 will yield returns of Rs 100 tomorrow.
Revenue of Flipkart Private Limited between Financial Years 2014 and 2022
On the other hand, Flipkart is a successful domestic Ecommerce player in India. Initially, it had its share of struggles in bringing sellers and buyers on its platform while dealing with the challenges of logistics and maintenance of warehouses. But with grit and hard work, Flipkart has been successful in bringing a revolution that changed the face of the startup ecosystem in India.
It was the first Ecommerce company to introduce the system of cash on delivery, being mindful of the reluctance people faced while using their cards online. It also accomplished the task of setting up its own logistics unit, Ekart, along with various warehouses for storage and faster deliveries. Just like Amazon, Flipkart’s founders also started their startup by selling books online and slowly scaled their startup to various segments. It has also acquired various startups like Myntra and Jabong in the fashion segment, and PhonePe to delve into the mobile wallet industry. As of FY2017, it held around 45% of the total market in India, with losses of about Rs 8771 crores and revenue rising by 29% to Rs 19,854 crores. Though the market share figures changed slightly, Flipkart still maintained a lead over its counterpart Amazon in terms of market share, which was reported to hold 31.9% market share over the US-based Amazon, which held 31.2% of the market share in 2020.
Flipkart also launched its smartphone segment under the name ‘billion’, and also forayed into the electronics segment under the name MarQ. It is even venturing into the untapped potential behind the furniture segment. The basic reason behind launching an in-house brand is to attain profitability; many experts say that in-house brands will ultimately become the backbone of Ecommerce. Success was not easy for Flipkart. Ideas like trying to turn Flipkart into a mobile app completely didn’t go down with customers, and there were other failure stories as well.
Flipkart was acquired by the American-based supermarket giant Walmart for $16 billion in 2018. This led to a growth in Flipkart’s valuation, which reached $21 billion. This deal was a win-win situation for both as Walmart got a 77% stake in expanding itself into the world’s new Ecommerce battleground, and Flipkart got ammunition in the form of investment and equity to counter Amazon. It eventually began to launch numerous programs like the loyalty program, and Flipkart Plus, where users are provided with free delivery and points. It also has a Flipkart affiliate program where you can become a partner and earn money. These points can be further used to redeem offers on platforms like Bookmyshow, Zomato, Hotstar, etc.
Flipkart launched its refurbished marketplace, 2gud.com, after parting ways with eBay India. With the competition getting tougher every day accompanied by growing market size, it remains to be seen whether Flipkart will be able to maintain its supremacy. No matter what, Indians will always be proud of Flipkart as it changed the way for the average Indian shop.
The third dimension of Ecommerce in India is Paytm Mall and other small players. After the fall of Snapdeal, Paytm Mall (started in 2017) was quick enough to conquer the third spot in the industry. Focusing on its Online to Offline model (O2O model), which allowed consumers to avail of online discounts and offers in Offline partner stores, it established a niche in this particular segment.
Alibaba and Soft Bank invested $356 million in the company. Alibaba took a stake of 28.34% and Soft Bank 19.86%. After this valuation of the company reached $2 billion. It reported annual gross sales worth around $3.5 billion in FY18 and earned operating revenues of $102.97 million in FY19. It reported $34.72 million in revenue from operations and a $17.48 million loss in FY22.
Short-term visions, lack of experience, and strategic setbacks led to the fall of the company. Alibaba and Ant Financial sold their stake at just $5.17 million and backed out of the company. According to reports, its valuation dropped from $3 billion to $13 million in March 2022. Paytm Mall can make a comeback through ONDC.
Another small and promising player was Shopclues, which had been successful in attracting customers from Tier-3 and Tier-4 towns, clearly indicating its difference in thinking from Flipkart and Amazon. It consisted of various small sellers on its platform, selling quality goods at a cheaper price. This business model attracted people from various rural areas who had low disposable incomes compared to their urban counterparts. According to a ROC 2018 filing, it was revealed that Shopclues’ revenue increased by 60% to Rs 180.3 crores, and losses came down by a massive 40% to Rs 332.65 crores. It also hinted at profitability in the coming quarters. However, the promising unicorn, which turned the fourth Indian unicorn startup in January 2016, led by Radhika Ghai Aggarwal and Sandeep Aggarwal, headed only towards nothing.
Conclusion
Many people from the industry feel that the current Ecommerce ecosystem in India (consisting of both the marketplace and inventory type) is less than 5% of its actual potential. With this industry growing exponentially, many small and big players feel that there are more horizontals and verticals which are yet to be explored and organized. Myntra, IndiaMart and Nykaa are among the fastest-growing Ecommerce players in India. The Ecommerce segment will be imperative in pumping up the Indian economy and boosting employment rates.
FAQs
What is the future of Ecommerce in India?
As per predictions, the Indian Ecommerce market will increase by 21.5%, reaching $74.8 billion in 2022, and it will reach $350 billion by 2030.
What is the present scenario of Ecommerce in India?
Ecommerce has transformed the way business is done in India. The Indian Ecommerce market is expected to grow to US$ 200 billion by 2026 from US$ 38.5 billion as of 2017. Much of the growth for the industry has been triggered by an increase in internet and smartphone penetration.
What is the market share of Ecommerce in India?
Growing at an exponential rate, the market value of the Ecommerce industry in India is approximately $88 billion in 2022.
Which is the biggest Ecommerce company in India?
Amazon India is the biggest Ecommerce company in India.
The global e-commerce market is expected to reach USD 27,147.9 billion by 2027.
By 2040, 95% of all retail purchases will be made online. All these stats show us that the market of e-commerce is booming.
If you own an e-commerce business then you can make a lot of revenue since nowadays a lot of consumers don’t want to visit an offline store. Instead, they would prefer buying products from the comfort of their homes.
But, it also tells us that there is a lot of competition in the market. To survive in this ever-growing market you need to constantly innovate, improve the buying experience and provide a high-quality product or service.
In spite of the highly unpredictable nature of e-commerce, there are some companies that were able to take the e-commerce market by storm. Today, we are going to tell you about the top 10 e-commerce companies in the world.
You must have expected Amazon to be at the top of the list and why not! We all must have ordered something from this ever-growing e-commerce site. The consumer base and revenue of this company are growing year by year.
Currently, in July 2022 Amazon has a market capitalization of $1.163 trillion. At the end of the financial year 2022, the company generated a whopping revenue of $477.748B, a 13.99% increase year-over-year. The company has 310 million customers worldwide.
In 2021, Amazon grew its market value by 73.6 per cent. It made a revenue of $469.822B in 2021, a 21.7% increase from 2020. This is because of the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in lockdowns all around the world.
As of 2022, Amazon generates $638 million each day. This means that the company makes $7,300 each second, $443,000 every minute, and $26.6 million every hour. So, every week Amazon earns an average of $4.4 billion and every month an average of $17.6 billion. Considering all these stats if Amazon stops working even for 1 minute they would lose millions of money!
According to Statista, Amazon.com had over 2.2 billion combined desktop and mobile visits. The company has listed 12 million items across all its categories and services which means that you can buy anything from the site.
Amazon Prime membership and Prime day are very smart strategies that allow the company to increase their sales.
Users quickly buy the Amazon Prime membership since they get free two-day shipping and access to Prime Music and Prime Video. Since they are prime members they are most likely to buy products from Amazon regularly.
Prime day sales incentivize consumers to buy goods and services. In 2021, on Prime day the company made a revenue of $11.79 billion.
2. Alibaba
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is a Chinese multinational company that has several businesses which specialize in e-commerce, cloud computing and logistics.
Alibaba.com:
Alibaba is the biggest wholesale marketplace which connects buyers and suppliers all around the world. Think of it like Amazon. The only difference here is that Amazon serves the American division but Alibaba is for China.
Taobao:
An online marketplace that facilitates consumer-to-consumer (C2C) business.
Alibaba Cloud:
A cloud computing company that provides cloud services on a pay-as-you-go basis.
TMall:
TMall is a Chinese-language website that facilitates business-to-consumer (B2C) online retail.
AliExpress:
AliExpress is an online retail company where international online buyers can buy cheap products and services from small businesses in China.
Lazada:
Lazada is an international e-commerce company where merchants sell their products and the company takes care of payment and delivery of products.
Youku:
Youku is a video hosting service based in Beijing, China.
DingTalk:
DingTalk is a messaging app in China that has over 100 million users.
Cainiao Network:
Cainiao Network is a Chinese logistics company.
As you can see Alibaba has created its own ecosystem. The market capitalisation of Alibaba is $331.52 billion. The company has 1.24 billion consumers worldwide.
In a press release the company said that in the September Quarter of 2021, the company generated a revenue of USD 31,147 million, indicating a 29% year-over-year increase.
In the financial year 2022, Alibaba group made a revenue of 134.6 billion U.S. dollars.
The unique thing about Alibaba and its subsidiaries is that they provide opportunities to small sellers to upscale their business.
3. eBay
eBay is an American e-commerce company which allows users to buy and sell their products. As of July 2022, eBay has a market capitalisation of $24.47 Billion.
At the end of March 31 2022, the company’s revenue was $10.265 billion, a 9.17% increase year-over-year. In 2021, the company made a revenue of $10.42 billion, a 17.16% increase from 2020.
The platform has 185 million active buyers and 19 million sellers worldwide. Most of the users buy and sell electronic products and accessories.
eBay has implemented advanced technology using which buyers can find the best price for a certain product easily. The ‘best price guarantee’ of eBay also attracts a lot of customers.
Under this policy, if a user buys a product from eBay and finds a better price from its competitor, within 48 hours the company will cover 110% of the difference.
eBay also encourages sellers to advertise their products. This helps the company to earn ad revenue. The company has also tied up with PayPal which provides in-house payment services to buyers and sellers.
4. Walmart
Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation that has established 10,500 stores and clubs in 24 countries.
It operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores and grocery stores. Apart from focusing on offline stores, the company has started allocating its resources to its e-commerce stores and has expanded its grocery pickup and delivery services.
The huge chain of offline stores helps the company to sell more goods and services online.
The company has a market cap of $343.52 billion. Walmart’s annual revenue for the year 2022 was $572.754 billion, a 2.43% increase from 2021.
Walmart has 2.3 million employees which help the company to rapidly scale their business.
5. HomeDepot
Home Depot is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that deals with construction and home improvement products. It is the largest home improvement retailer in the United States.
The company has a market capitalisation of $294.646 billion. In the first quarter of fiscal 2022, the company reported sales of $38.9 billion, an increase of $1.4 billion.
According to Statista, the company has carried out nearly 1.8 billion customer transactions worldwide.
HomeDepot’s huge chain of offline stores and awesome customer service has helped the company to become successful.
Recently, the company has invested a lot of money to digitally transform its operations. In 2021, the company launched the “Rent Online, Pick-up In Store” (ROPIS) functionality where customers could view equipment online and make reservations for them in advance from the comfort of their homes.
The company has partnered with Google Cloud to take their digital transformation efforts to the next level.
6. Mercado Livre
Mercado Livre Website
Mercado Livre is the largest e-commerce and payments ecosystem in Latin America. The company operates in 18 countries.
Using this platform users can buy, sell and make the payment for the products. MercadoLibre has a market capitalization of $35.26 billion.
The company’s annual revenue for 2021 was $7.069 billion, a 77.92% increase from 2020.
In 2021, the company gained 139.5 million unique active users. Mercado Livre has been aggressively investing in logistics to make its delivery more effective. In the fourth quarter of 2021, nearly 90% of the shipping was carried out using its own network.
7. Rakuten
Rakuten Ichiba is Japan’s largest e-commerce that operates in 29 countries. Using this platform consumers can buy electronics, clothes, books, baby essentials, apparel and much more.
Apart from e-commerce the company also provides financial services, video distribution services and communications services.
The company has a market capitalisation of $7.45 billion. If we look at Rakuten’s latest financial reports we can notice that the company’s current revenue (TTM) is $15.03 billion.
Rakuten provides loyalty points to its customers which are linked to their credit cards. This means that every time customers make a purchase from Rakuten they earn points. The company has 1.6 billion customers around the world.
8. Reliance Digital
Finally, an Indian company on this list! As we all know, Reliance Industries is a multinational conglomerate that has a diverse business in telecommunications, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, mass media and textiles.
Reliance is India’s biggest retailer, with more than 12,000 stores. The company has put up its foot in the quick commerce segment by launching JioMart. Using this platform users can order 50,000+ grocery products online.
The company’s fashion e-commerce portals Ajio and Reliance Digital performed well during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reliance has a market capitalisation of US$243 billion. Reliance Industries became the first Indian company to cross 100Bn$ in revenues.
Reliance industries is also the 10th largest employer in India with a workforce of 236,000 employees.
In FY2021, Reliance Retail generated a revenue of Rs 1,53,818 crore and a pre-tax profit of Rs 9,842.
9. Prosus
Prosus is a Dutch multinational conglomerate company. It is Europe’s largest consumer Internet company and one of the world’s largest tech investors.
The company has invested a lot of its money in companies from different sectors like fintech (PayU), food delivery platforms (iFood, Delivery Hero and Swiggy), and EdTech (Stack Overflow, Brainly, Udemy), retail (eMag) and e-commerce (OLX).
In 2021, Prosus delivered revenue growth of 51% to US$9.8 billion from its e-commerce ventures.
10. Meituan Dianping
Meituan-Dianping is a Chinese shopping platform for consumer products and retail services like dining, delivery, travel and much more.
The company works on the model of a ‘super app’ where users can buy movie tickets, order food online, read restaurant reviews, buy different products and services and do much more from a single app.
Meituan has a market capitalization of $151.52 billion. In 2021, the company generated a revenue of 179 billion yuan.
In the first quarter of 2022, Meituan’s food delivery and in-store business along with hotel and travel segments achieved an aggregate operating profit of RMB5.1 billion.
Conclusion
As you can see all the top e-commerce companies are constantly innovating and providing high-quality products or services to their customers. The companies have understood the behavioural pattern of the audience and are trying to make the lives of the people better. Remember, when your product or service is helping people you will always succeed.
FAQs
Which is the world’s largest e-commerce company?
Amazon is the world’s largest e-commerce company with a market capitalization of $1.163 Trillion. At the end of the financial year 2022, the company generated a whopping revenue of $477.748B, a 13.99% increase year-over-year.
Is Alibaba bigger than Amazon?
No, Alibaba is not bigger than Amazon.
Which country is No 1 in e-commerce?
China is the world’s biggest and fastest-growing e-commerce market in the world. The e-commerce market in China is growing at an annual growth rate of 21%.
What is the biggest online market?
eBay is the biggest online marketplace that serves over 180 million buyers worldwide. The company operates in 190 markets around the world.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by CommerceIQ.
When most of the world’s shopping went online as a result of the pandemic, entrepreneurs providing technology and other solutions to help with the transition began to attract venture capitalists’ attention. CommerceIQ is the latest company to gain late-stage funding, as we’ve seen firms throughout the e-commerce infrastructure and enabling ecosystem to raise larger and larger amounts.
Enterprise Business Platforms are a collection of interconnected application software and/or systems that may be used to develop Enterprise Business Solutions or Apps by combining their capabilities and shared data. Order processing, customer information management, procurement, energy management, production scheduling, and accounting are among the company operations that enterprise businesses handle. It is usually housed on servers and offers several users simultaneous services across a computer network.
CommerceIQ is a business platform that enables merchants to expand profitably by making data-driven marketing decisions. By combining the fields of machine learning and data science to e-commerce, the firm’s solution automates operations across marketing, sales, and operations, allowing retailers to increase their efficiency through automation and generate sustainability.
CommerceIQ is a frontrunner in assisting companies in winning through retail e-commerce platforms like Walmart.com, Instacart, and Amazon, which account for 85 percent of all e-commerce. To help organizations discover the key to winning a share of the market profitably, the company’s unified platform integrates machine learning and automation across the supply chain, marketing, and sales processes.
To maximize e-commerce performance, CommerceIQ connects people, processes, and technology platforms. People can now make more decisions, better decisions, and make them faster. An online firm that remains on the top implies more sales volumes, more considerable revenues, and a larger market share.
CommerceIQ – Industry
Enterprise Business Platforms, and Solutions, are utilised to carry out cross-functional organisational duties by combining capabilities that are often provided by several enterprise systems. The following terms are more precise when it comes to defining this industry: Enterprise Business Platforms are a collection of interconnected software applications and/or systems that may be used to develop Enterprise Business Solutions or Apps by combining their capabilities and shared data.
Due to the increased prevalence of cloud applications in diverse modern enterprises and the rising use of customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning in over 70% of companies, the global enterprise platform market is predicted to develop significantly.
Many small and medium-sized firms’ increased investments in cloud software due to increased scalability, robustness, and return on investments have fueled market development, fueled demand for applications and software such as ERP and CRM across multiple organizations.
Increased automation in various end-use sectors is also critical for market expansion. Cloud-based corporate apps like Panama are gaining much traction in the market, indicating that consumers are becoming more interested in automated business procedures.
Guru is an experienced IT and marketing executive with over fifteen years of e-commerce expertise. Guru spent more than five years with Amazon developing out automatic procurement and supply chain before starting the firm in 2012. He also became a 3P seller’s AI-based selling coach.
CommerceIQ – Startup Story
The company’s founder, Hariharan, has a history in machine learning and e-commerce, and while at Amazon, he stated that the objective was to eliminate humans from the retailing equation, thus his team created software called Amazon Selling Coach to teach people how to connect with businesses.
Hariharan wanted to establish a firm that would power where all of that money was going as individuals began to migrate their purchases, from equipment to toothbrushes, to Amazon and other platforms.
He left Amazon to establish his own firm, focusing on the sale side of the equation for brands to sell and the purchase side’s interaction with retailers. CommerceIQ’s retail e-commerce management tools automate and consolidate areas such as retail media management, category analytics, operations, and sales for companies underneath one umbrella. According to Hariharan, customers should expect an average sales increase of 18 per cent.
More than 2,200 companies, including Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, and Kellogg’s are now collaborating with this Bay Area-based startup to manage incremental sales, unit profitability, and category market share through online retailers such as Amazon, Target, Instacart, and Walmart,
CommerceIQ – Vision, and Mission
CommerceIQ’s mission statement says, “to empower brands to move from analogue to algorithms.”
CommerceIQ – Business Model
Essentially, the company sells tools that allow retailers to take action on e-commerce platforms before an item runs out of supply. It also aids firms in streamlining their supply chains and taking the necessary procedures in the event that a product is not displayed on the e-commerce platform’s homepage.
There are four main product categories for this SaaS company. Offerings for firms to be more visible on e-commerce search sites, as well as tools to manage advertisements and optimise promotions with the least amount of human intervention, are among them. Large firms may also use CommerceIQ to simplify their supply chains by forecasting their needs and requirements and allocating resources accordingly.
In addition, the company provides a professional services model. The company provides advisory services to ‘clients that are trailing behind in the e-commerce market and want to catch up.’
The business is built on an annual subscription model with valuation-based charging.
CommerceIQ – Growth
In 2021, CommerceIQ, an algorithmic platform for e-commerce channels, had a 267 percent growth in revenue and a 77 percent increase in personnel year over year.
CommerceIQ, which uses machine learning, analytics, and automation systems to enhance e-commerce channels across distribution chain, advertising, and sales operations, is strengthening its tech governance in India with new hires in application, design and development, data science and analytics, support, and product operations.
“From a business growth standpoint, it’s been phenomenal,” said Guru Hariharan, CEO, CommerceIQ. “It was blistering growth in the US. E-commerce penetration of retail was about 16% when we went into the pandemic. When we got out of the pandemic, it was 20% in the US. And it was similar across the world. There was a massive jump in e-commerce penetration of total retail.”
According to Hariharan, the firm has had a 267 per cent increase in revenue yet, with a 300 per cent increase in 202. He went on to say that although CommerceIQ has dominated IQ in the US, it has won with EQ in India, particularly during the second wave of the pandemic, when a lot of their professionals in India were affected.
CommerceIQ – Employees
COO – Piyush Lumba
CEO & Founder – Guru Hariharan
VP Sales – Tim Wilson
VP Finance – Adrian Seet
Sr. Product Manager – Rajath Raman
Senior Account Executive – Cory Lund
Commerce – Funding, and Investments
Date
Round
Amount
Lead Investors
Mar 21, 2022
Series D
$115M
SoftBank Vision Fund
Jun 22, 2021
Series C
$60M
Insight Partners
Jan 14, 2016
Series B
$12M
Shasta Ventures
Jul 16, 2014
Series A
$8.5M
Madrona Venture Group, Trinity Ventures
CommerceIQ – Competitors
CommerceIQ’s top competitors include A2X, Webgility, Helium10, Jungle Scout, Perpetua, ChannelAdvisor. Wholesale Suite, and DataHawk.
CommerceIQ – Future Plans
CommerceIQ, a retail e-commerce management software, has received $115 million in Series D financing from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. With this, the SaaS startup’s overall valuation has risen to more than $1 billion, putting it in the coveted unicorn category.
Existing institutional investors such as Insight Partners, Trinity Ventures, Shasta Ventures, and Madrona Venture Group also participated in the round.
CommerceIQ will utilise the resources to finance its global operations and expedite the development of its ‘unified Retail Ecommerce Management Platform.’ It also intends to grow its services in India, and as a result, its algorithmic components have been adjusted to adapt to buyers’ behaviour not only on Amazon but also on local e-tailers like Flipkart.
The Bengaluru office now employs over 150 workers, with ambitions to roughly treble that number by CY22. The money will also be used to hire more people in a variety of areas, including data science, software development, customer service, analytics, and product operations.
Hariharan said that the company had a strong presence in the United States and Canada and that it was planning to expand to Europe shortly. Furthermore, the firm intends to use the funds to accelerate its organic expansion and form new collaborations along the road.
CommerceIQ – FAQs
What does CommerceIQ do?
CommerceIQ is a business platform that enables merchants to expand profitably by making data-driven marketing decisions.
Who founded CommerceIQ?
Guru Hariharan founded CommerceIQ in 2012.
How does CommerceIQ make money?
The company provides a professional services model. The business is built on an annual subscription model with valuation-based charging.
Which companies do CommerceIQ compete with?
CommerceIQ’s top competitors include A2X, Webgility, Helium10, Jungle Scout, Perpetua, ChannelAdvisor. Wholesale Suite, and DataHawk.
Flipkart is not unknown to Indians. With the birth of Flipkart, eCommerce has been a household term for us.
The Walmart-owned Indian eCommerce giant has been the trustworthy companion for millions of Indians till date since it was founded 14 years back in 2007. Flipkart has experienced incredible growth over the years.
Along with keeping up with quality standards of products and services, the Indian startup stood strong against none other than Amazon, which is not an ordinary feat. Furthermore, along the years that Flipkart served the country, it not only increased its business on a large scale but also continued to provide both direct and indirect opportunities of employment for its users.
On its way to offer employment opportunities for the people of the Indian subcontinent, Flipkart announced its latest app Shopsy.
Shopsy, as announced by Flipkart, is launched as an app that will help tens of thousands of native entrepreneurs, businessmen, and other individuals to grow and further their businesses and enterprises.
According to the Senior Vice President – Growth and Monetization of Flipkart, Prakash Sikaria, the launch of Shopsy as an app will help drive easy employment opportunities for the Indians that will further their “vision and provide additional earning opportunities for millions of enterprising Indians. Now, anyone from anywhere can start their online business with zero investment.”
How will Shopsy Help Small Businesses, Entrepreneurs, and Individuals?
Flipkart offers a wide range of products, equaling almost 15 crore products from varying industries, which the web app displays its users from where they can choose to buy the ones they prefer.
To date, Flipkart has only offered its users products and opportunities to be sellers but with Shopsy the app also aims to create resellers out of their users. Now, the wide range of products that Flipkart boasts of on its website, spanning across categories like fashion, beauty, electronics, mobiles, home essentials, etc., will also be available for the budding entrepreneurs and other individuals to resell them and add to their income.
The people who will choose Shopsy would be able to share Flipkart’s catalogs with their prospects via any social media or messaging apps, place orders for their customers, and earn commissions for themselves. The amount or the percentage of commissions received will not be the same and depend on the products and the categories from which they are ordered.
Shopsy will also be a great help for Flipkart and have unlimited opportunities to widen their user base and boost their business. People who are relatively new to the world of eCommerce or aren’t sure of buying things online will be acquainted with Flipkart. This will further grow their trust in the brand and eCommerce in general because the known thread will be their trusted point of contact, who will be a Flipkart user.
This new app will not only benefit the people who already exhibit a strong network but will also be an enviable opportunity for those who only aspire to build a decent network. Yes, the latter can also weave their own network successfully with the daily transactions that they will depend upon once they sign in with this Flipkart app.
Shopsy will be a great boon for all upcoming entrepreneurs and individuals because all of them will have equal access to the wide inventory, effective logistics management, and established delivery networks of the eCommerce giant, which they can use as their ladder to establishing a successful business. Gain credibility and acceleration will not be a problem to them this way and with this app.
Many Users Often Shy Away from Ecommerce Platforms, Why?
Though online transactions have grown by leaps and bounds in the past couple of decades, many users still fail to muster enough courage to transact online on eCommerce websites mainly because of their ignorance and the lack of trust. Distributed commerce, however, has acted as a channel to solve these problems and has witnessed quite a growth in these recent years. Shopsy will further gear up the possibilities for the app and its users to grow.
How to use Shopsy?
Flipkart has grown its eCommerce expertise over the years and is now aiming to help legions of budding Indian entrepreneurs to make the best of the app. All the users who want to use Shopsy will have to first register on the app with their phone numbers in order to kickstart their entrepreneurial venture and can continue adding to the income and expanding their business leveraging the key resources of the platform.
Conclusion
With this new initiative, Flipkart aims to benefit over 25 million online entrepreneurs by 2023 through digital commerce. Shopsy will be a major boost to the company, its citizens, and the country, and will be a major step forward to eradicate the country’s long-standing problems of unemployment.
Besides, with the post-pandemic woes that have ousted several and weakened the stable financial grounds of many individuals and businessmen, Shopsy has the potential to glow as a silver lining at the end of the dreadful pandemic.
FAQ
What is Shopsy?
Shopsy is an e-commerce platform launched by Flipkart to help entrepreneurs grow their business through platforms like WhatsApp.
Is Shopsy Free?
Yes, Shopsy platform is free for small businesses and individuals but sellers on Shopsy will have to pay the usual marketplace fee.
Do you ever dream of owning your business but you step back by looking at huge investments and capital of starting the business, guess what now you can own your own e-commerce store and be the boss of your business.
What if I told you you can start your own e-commerce business with low investment and minimum capital, yes you can have your own e-commerce business with minimum capital let me show you how.
Dropshipping has become popular in India since the entry of Amazon and Aliexpress and many Indian entrepreneurs started their business in dropshipping.
What is Dropshipping Business?
Dropshipping is a business model in which the retailer does not require to have a stock of the products which they are selling, instead, they give the order and shipment details to the wholesalers, and then the wholesaler will directly forward the product to the customer. The benefit of this business is, the retailer does not have to take the hassle of storing the products in storeroom.
Benefits of a Dropshopping Business
You can choose several products from your dropshipping store.
The burden of maintaining a warehouse is eliminated.
You don’t require a hefty amount to commence the business.
Retailers can price their products as per their preferences.
There is fewer risk involved in this Business.
Is Dropshipping Profitable in India?
yes it is if you follow the right steps and dedicate yourself to your business, success and hardwork go hand in hand so you need to focus on your business and grow your business .
How to Start Dropshipping Business in India?
Now lets talk about real business so the first step to start dropshipinng business in India.
The first and the most important step in starting your own Dropshipping business is to register your business because not doing so can you land in some serious trouble with Indian authorities so first register your business to know how to register your business you can read some articles.
Once you register a business or company, you can get lots of benefits from the Central and state governments. These include loans at low-interest rates and tax exemptions .’
Don’t forget you will get a Goods & Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN) for your business. This is notably important nowadays to buy or sell anything in India. You’ll also need it for payment-related formalities.
Clearly, your in this business for earning money so you require a current account for the investments and money transfer you’ll make while you grow your business. Having a current account is recommended by the experts if you require any foreign investments or money transfer in the future so its better to play safe.
While the Reserve Bank of India has specific guidelines for banks to offer Current Accounts, I would suggest you scout the market and find the best bank for your business.
Ill suggest you open your account in foreign banks because foreign banks have large networks of branches and correspondent banks across the world, which makes the transaction and money transfer more effortless for you.
Open a PayPal account
Having a PayPal account is total up to you if you want to ship your products in different countries or you know you will deal with foreign investments in the near future so having a PayPal account is a must for your business.
To open a PayPal account You’ll require the GSTIN number and Current Account details. PayPal will verify your bank account and other details before accepting your application.
List the products
List down the products you want to sell on your online store, choose the products you want to sell with the help of an expert in this business because you need to list the products that sell fast and in huge amounts so you don’t incur a loss in the initial months of your business.
Finalize the category of products you wish to sell as a drop shipper.
Contact supplier/wholesaler
For listing and selling the products on your e-commerce store you require a seller from which you can purchase the items in bulk. If you wish you can contact the suppliers by yourself or you can get the help of some services which connects the retailers and wholesaler. Our top recommendation would be Aliexpress and IndiaMART.
These services will make it easy for you to find the products and list them on your e-commerce store
Return policy
if you are in an ecommerce business you have to think aboout the returns, customer can return the products if it is damaged or the customer is not completely satisfied with the product so you need to have a return policy with the seller if the product gets damaged during the shipment of thart product, you also need to look into providing the refund to the customers when they return the product.
You can minimize your returns by paying special attention to aspects like precise handling and shipment of products.
Open an e-commerce website
You want a platform to sell your products on, so to start your dropshipping business in India you need an e commerce website. you can set up your own site or you can use services like aliexpress which will handle everything for you.
If you prfer to sell your products in a small locality or only limiting to your city then facebook marketplace is what we recommend.
To expand your customer base you also have to promote your website on different social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
After you initiate your website list the category of products you want to sell on your site finalize the price of the product carefully and also pay attention to return policies that are favorable to the customer. set up a secure payment method so that if a customer wants to pay online he/she can pay effortlessly, in India people prefer COD over other payment methods.
Now you know the steps to start your own e-commerce business get your business going here’s a small tip for you, well suggest before entering this dropshipping market study the market properly and see if the business model suits you.
Here are some tips that will give you an edge over others
Before entering the business study your competitors thoroughly because they are already in this business so study your competitors and learn from your mistakes.
Select the products which are high in demand so the chances of your loss is less than normal.
Final Verdict
Hardwork is the most important key to success so after starting your own e-commerce business dedicate yourself in your business strive hard and you’ll get the results. there are ups and downs in every aspect of life so if you ever fail in your business don’t give up stand up and work harder than before.
Disruptions are the need of the hour. This applies to the eCommerce in India as well. With the emergence of new competitors in the online segment, established players such as Myntra, Flipkart and Amazon, are reinventing their way of functioning to stay at the top.
The new strategies being employed can be witnessed through the ‘trends’ that have captured everybody’s attention. Indian entrepreneurs are adamant about revolutionizing the eCommerce industry and experience for their countrymen, taking inspiration from their western counterparts as and when required.
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Here are a few trends of 2020 that are collectively catapulting the eCommerce in India to another level.
Innovation in logistics
The customer orders an iPhone but receives a fruit instead. The blame directly or indirectly goes to the delivery guy who’s just a small part of the supply chain. Ecommerce players are realizing the importance of getting logistics done right since most of the customer complaints pertain to delivery issues. To sort it out, third-party logistics providers are turning up on the scene and are being hired by companies to micromanage the entire delivery process. The highlight to watch this year would be drones replacing delivery boys, overcoming hurdles such as traffic, transportation, etc. with relative ease. Hence, taking Ecommerce in india to another level.
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Video marketing
Static advertisements are now becoming a thing of the past. Video marketing is gaining prominence, propagating and convey much more information than a normal ad. A 10-second advertisement can influence the audiences’ mind to an extent that wasn’t possible earlier. Don’t believe this? Pay a visit to sites that show what’s trending in India and what is going to be blocked soon in India and test out the effectiveness of such video commercials!
Not leveraging the potential of AI and machine learning in the modern-day means an outdated way of performing tasks. A lot of endeavors out there are concentrating on creating the perfect trail room experience, continually improving the entire virtual procedure to mimic the real-world experience. A major reason why offline shoppers are reluctant towards jumping on the online purchase bandwagon especially when it comes to clothes is due to the lack of ability to try out items before purchasing them. Virtual trial rooms are quickly going to tear down this inability of e-commerce sites. Virtual assistant: A chatbot or virtual assistant with the appropriate functionality can do more than just a “Hi there”; it can guide through the customer’s entire experience on the website, right from opening the catalog to finalizing the shopping cart. With the amount of research going on in Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence, the number of conferences being held all over the world, universities rolling out certifications and specializations in these domains is a testament to the power that chatbots possess. Some websites have incorporated the same, showing that AI-powered assistants are receiving a positive nod. These advanced technologies are Ecommerce in India to grow more faster.
Government support
The current central government has been rolling out schemes one after the other. Initiatives such as Digital India, Make in India and others have strengthened the eCommerce in India. Various foreign companies are given canned to partner with local companies such as Walmart who purchased Flipkart, to increase foreign investments in India. Not only at the national level but at the regional level also, the state is organizing business summits to encourage eCommerce startups in India. The PMOs’ insistence on digital wallets has caused companies such as Amazon, Flipkart to bring changes in payment gateways. Other effects will be felt for sure in the coming future.
Foreign corporations investing in Indian companies make headlines is becoming a common news headline. The shot in the arm that Walmart intends to give Flipkart was the talk of the town for quite some time, and the legal broth it had stewed is a kind of incision revealing the difficulties involved in big mergers. By partnering with international firms, Indian e-retailers can leverage expertise and skills for their enhancement. It will give them chances to expand in their respective countries. The biggest problem is negotiation while remaining compliant with Indian rules and regulations.
Big Data, Cloud and IoT
With the extremely number of data that is being generated by online shopping sites, new visualization techniques and analysis tools are the needs of the hour. Storing the processed information calls for secure and reliable storage mechanisms is something that cloud service providers such as Amazon and Microsoft are known for. MNCs and startups alike are utilizing such high-end solutions for most of their needs. And as time progresses, the advancements are only going to reach unprecedented levels, allowing e-commerce organizations operating out of India to innovate and invent.
This is the most updated trend that the current eCommerce industry is using is combining the online store with the classic retail stores, commonly known as phygital store i. e physical + digital stores. There are numerous times when we want to buy something but can’t because of the sizing or other issues. The phygital stores are the solution and these are growing rapidly. Online brands like firstcry, lenskart, Nykaa have started this and other brands are planning to do it soon. This gives the customer the satisfaction of buying things personally while for the company they get to retain their company.
The rise of Social Commerce
With the trend of providing high-speed internet by Jio and other brands, the period spends online has increased. The transition in the way online shopping is done in India is evident. From people thinking twice before sharing their credit card details in the payment gateway to youngsters and adults buying items in a jiffy through the comforts of their smartphones, e-commerce is shaping up for sure, and for the better. It would be interesting to see how new trends evolve over the years, and how they would contort the presence of e-commerce in India. Who knows, brick-and-mortar shopping outlets may soon become a thing of the past!
Dev Gupta
