The Growth of India’s Ecommerce Market
India’s smartphone connectivity is on the rise thanks to the Indian government’s ‘Digital India’ program, attempting to increase digital connectivity to all generations. Currently around 900 million total internet connections have been recorded nationwide and it is expected that this connectivity will reach 1.1 billion by 2025.
With the advent of the smartphone and the development of wireless, mobile transactions, India’s ecommerce market sales are expected to amass up to INR 8.8 lakh crore (USD 120 billion) by 2025.
What Do You Need to Start an Ecommerce Business in India?
There are many ways to start up an ecommerce business. You can start by consulting with government aided start up programs and understanding what to research beforehand. However, the most fundamental thing is to choose what business you want to manage online, and what type of online platform or website you want to manage, as this will become the face of your online business.
Gruuz has a wide selection of ecommerce websites ready to be bought and put into operation. Let’s go into detail one by one of how to start an ecommerce business using Gruuz’s platform as an example.
What Do We Sell Online?
The beauty of having an ecommerce business is, you can operate your business with minimal infrastructure regardless of if you are residing in a Tier 1 tech-savvy city like Bangalore or living in the tradition affluent city of Bhubaneswar, where digital infrastructure is relatively less abundant than others. All you need is an item to sell online, create a working website, register your business and you are ready to go. Simple, right?
Unfortunately, it is not. There are various complex steps in creating an ecommerce business. Let’s take a specific example. Let’s assume that we are from a rural part of the country. The best sarees are created by your Bibi ji, who has mastered the craft for the last 20 years. You see potential and you believe that many elderly aunties and uncles in other states such as Maharashtra or Karnataka are willing to buy your Bibi ji’s handcrafted sarees. The problem is how to market the product, and allow for sales? This is when ecommerce steps in.
Running an ecommerce business requires a website that will effectively show the item or product you are willing to sell. This is called ‘online marketing’. At Gruuz, we buy and sell ecommerce business websites that are already equipped with full functioning marketing channels.
Thus if Bibi ji already sells excellent quality traditional wear, there is no extra need to promote advertisements additionally as they are already set in place by the previous owner of the ecommerce business.
Why Can’t I Create My Own Ecommerce Website from Scratch? Isn’t It More Economical?
Great question. The answer is it depends. “Time is money.” This phrase is most evident when running an ecommerce business, as there are so many competitors. In India there are nearly 1.2 million DPIIT recognized startups across the nation (3rd largest startup ecosystem in the world). Almost all of these new companies participate in some form of ecommerce, whether it is B2B, B2C, or C2C even. Competing with these businesses along with existing companies means you have to enter the market as soon as possible. Thus ‘time’ is a valuable asset.
However, if you spend time building a new website from scratch, this will take many months even a year in the long run. Will this guarantee a better more effective ecommerce business website because it is made from scratch? No. Definitely not. There is no guarantee as the new website has not been verified or operated in the market.
The worst case scenario : you waste time, you waste money(you have to invest in a specialist who will code your website for you) and you waste Bibi ji’s expertise.
This is why we recommend people interested in ecommerce to acquire an ecommerce website already operating. At Gruuz, the ecommerce business websites for sale have been authenticated by the Indian people and their financial effectiveness in the online market. Most of the ecommerce business websites that are on sale on Gruuz requires documentation of sales revenue. GST registration of the business will also be uploaded so that you can verify that the website is legitimate. We also upload in-detail explanation of how the ecommerce business is performing so that you can make an evaluation of whether this website is adaptable and beneficial to your new online ecommerce business in India.
Do I Need an Ecommerce Business? Can’t I Just Focus on Offline Sales?
This is an entrepreneurial choice and offline sales focus can be a decisive move. However, going back to Bibi ji’s saree sales, there is a limit to how much sales can be conducted in a certain region.(The distance from Bhubaneswa to Banswara is a tad far for offline sales and the Baba ji and friends sales route can only last for so long…) Ecommerce allows for sales to be nationwide and even worldwide depending on the marketing. With an authenticated strong website that is already constructed, the sales potential will be even stronger than expected. At Gruuz, we sell ecommerce business websites that have been proven effective. There are different styles of websites from trendy to traditional from not only Indian ecommerce business owners but from all over the world, such as Korea, China and Europe. It is for you to pick.
What Specific Steps are Necessary to Operate a Successful Ecommerce Business?
Branding
You need a representation of your company online, preferably through a brand image
After you have chosen a successful item that has potential in the offline and online market, you need to market it. To do so, it requires a representative symbol or ‘brand’. The brand has to be in correlation with what type of ecommerce business you want to manage in India. For example, going back to Bibi ji’s saree manufacturing OPC(or LLP if you have some stake of the company), the brand logo might be preferable if it had a traditional edge to it.
So if we made this from scratch, what is the necessary steps? First, you would have to find a designer offline or online. Baba ji may pitch in and give some pointers or creative ideas, but portraying it in an effective manner or design will be very difficult. So we find a designer or 3rd party, preferably in Bangalore or Mumbai as they are the IT mega cities in India. However communicating online has much restrictions and time constraints, and the quality of your brand probably won’t achieve the effective quality you wish to present to the Indian saree ecommerce market.
Thus it is much more time efficient and less resource wasting if we buy an existing ecommerce business and acquire their brand as well.
The brand can be re-used as an effective market advertisement approach or it can be modified and customized to your new ecommerce business needs.
At Gruuz, you can see the ecommerce brand in detail, look at the introduction of the business, how its business reputation is online and offline (the owner will explain in detail in the introduction part of the platform). After you pay for the ecommerce business website, the brand equity and ownership will be transferred to you, allowing you to use it ASAP. Time saved, resources are saved and Bibi ji’s sarees are saved to be shipped to other parts of India for great people to wear.
Advertisement
You need to show off your goods and products to other potential buyers.
Even if your ecommerce item is top-notch product, this will all be for naught if nobody knows what it is, how much it costs and what quality it is. If you are starting an ecommerce website from scratch you need to have advertisement strategies up your sleeves.
You may start an Instagram account or create a Whatsapp account and try to conduct an online advertising campaign from home. However, who will you target? Directing your advertising efforts to a massive number of unknown digital people online will only cost you smartphone bills on data pile up and your time.
Using Gruuz’s Google Analytics tool, you can accurately observe verifiable information regarding what type of users have visited an uploaded ecommerce business website up for sale. For example, if you are a starting entrepreneur in your 20s trying to sell luxury made smartphone cases on the C2C market, then you can use Gruuz’s platform to see who the website’s main users are. It will define the region of the users, the age bracket, the sex and the type of consumer behavior.
This already put in infrastructure will quickly allow you to be formulate an advertising strategy.
Also, advertising or marketing channels are already operating under the ecommerce business website. The previous manager of the website will introduce the advertising channels he or she has utilized to market their product on the Gruuz introduction webpage. For example, using the example above the smartphone case entrepreneur will probably be more interested in a client base that is in their 20s who use smartphones all the time. Then younger generation oriented SNS platforms such as Instagram will be more appealing to the potential buyer. Gruuz meets and analyzes these demands and helps you find an ecommerce business website that already runs a successful SNS platform garnered to your client base.
In both the short term and long run, it is more beneficial to acquire a business with advertising and marketing channels in place.
Supplier channels
You need to have a stable inflow of supply and a well operating delivery system to meet demand
After you are finished with a brand logo to introduce your product and advertising channels that will help facilitate increase in awareness and sales, you need to have a stable source of supply for your product. Handcrafting your products is one method to go, but unfortunately this will become difficult when demand exceeds supply. (Bibi ji’s hand craftsmanship can only do so much) So what will happen if supply can’t meet demand? Brand loyalty will waiver and demand will decrease.
Then all the time and effort spent in building a brand logo and advertising network will be for naught.
Gruuz’s ecommerce business websites for sale can take care of this problem once and for all. How? By utilizing the previous ecommerce owner’s supply and distribution network. For example, let’s say that you are interested in creating a textile B2B ecommerce platform online, specializing in overseas sales to China or Thailand. However you do not have the connections or networking skills of finding an OEM factory or producer. By visiting Gruuz you can look up various ecommerce businesses defined by categories and sorted by the type of main transactions they undertake. You can look up a textile B2B online company that is willing to sell their ecommerce website. After acquiring this, you can receive the information and supply network from the previous owner. As luck would have it, there may be an ecommerce business looking to sell located in Bhilwara, the textile capital of India.
A stable source of textile supply is ready at your service, waiting only a few clicks away.
Human Resources (AKA Management Team)
You need to have an expert back support staff to aid you in your management operations
So we have the ecommerce product, the brand, the advertising channels and even the supply network. What more do we need? Who is going to look after all these processes in detail? You can do it as a one man/woman operation, but it will be a very complex task and sometimes you will forget one or two steps. The problem is this leads to lack of delivery, or misplaced orders and customer loyalty may fall as they receive their goods a bit late or in a disordered fashion.
Gruuz’s ecommerce business websites mostly have a support staff looking at traffic volume of potential consumers, marketing professionals and even a LSOM network specialist. They can all be hired after you acquire the ecommerce business. This will save you much time (and money) in hiring new personnel, teach them the business system (not to mention you learning it to an expert’s level in the first place) and fixing the problems they may make as they are not well customized to the new ecommerce business system.
If this is too much and you want to maintain the operation by yourself, don’t worry. At Gruuz, the previous owner of the ecommerce business website will take much time to explain how to manage the website, the SNS channels and the supply and distribution channels of the ecommerce business. You may be burdened to hire so many people at the beginning of your company, so let us assure that there will be an explaining process of the website after you acquire it.
What are the Indicators of a Good Effective Ecommerce Business? What Should I Look for?
Sales Revenue and Net Profit
Sales, sales and did I mention Sales? In essence we are trying to run an ecommerce ‘business’. Numbers mean everything and the most important thing to look for is how much product is being sold. The problem is that a business made from scratch makes it very difficult to formulate how much sales revenue a business will generate. To do so requires market research, benchmarking other ecommerce businesses (this information is very hard to come by) and predicting the sales volume of your ecommerce business.
Through acquiring an ecommerce business that is already operational, this hassle can be taken care of. The sales volume of the ecommerce business websites on Gruuz is verified by documentation of sales transactions and tax reports uploaded on Gruuz. We recommend sellers to show as much information about their current ecommerce business website as much as possible, as this is the indicator of how much money it will generate once it changes ownership. Gruuz’s system is also interlinked with Google Analytics, and the information provided is guaranteed by Google to be objective and accurate. An offline store or business do not have this credibility. You can for example by Amma’s saree clothes store but can you get the necessary documentation to verify sales? It will be difficult as this is a more person centered transaction.
But Gruuz puts focus on objectivity of sales, and even formulates the asking price of the ecommerce website based on the sales the business generates monthly.
Net Profit
Net profit is the 2nd indicator to look at when trying to analyze your sale revenue. If you have reliably made a projection of the sales revenue then you have to hypothesize how much you cost of goods will be. Subtract this from your sales and you have a rough estimate of your profit. This of course doesn’t consider amortization, depreciation of your goods and interest fees. Also, did I mention taxes? This will definitely come out of your net profit. The problem is, the business is very difficult to formulate this in the beginning and many new entrepreneurs make the mistake of making their business forecasts too optimistic. Thus objectivity is less calculated into the business forecast and in the end a short run of the business may well come to play.
Gruuz’s ecommerce websites have necessary proof and statistics to show how much net profit is being generated by the ecommerce business for sale. The net profit is evenly calculated into the fee of the buying website, and thus you can make a reasonable judgement that this in the long run is beneficial for your ecommerce empire. Another upside to this is that this net profit will probably be maintained while you diversify your sales portfolio. Maintaining a cash flow from the previous ecommerce business owner’s sales products allow you to have a little more wiggle room for your main item of sales.
It’s a much safer method to start your ecommerce business than from scratch.
Additional Steps to Consider When Starting an Ecommerce Business
We pretty much covered the essence of starting an ecommerce business, but these are a few steps regulatory steps that may need to be taken care of when starting an ecommerce business.
- Create a domain name
- Choose a payment gateway method
- Provide a customer hotline
- Choose what type of business organization you are interested in(LLP, OPC, even a Private Limited Company)
- Register with the DGIIT and also file for a PAN card for your business
These sound very complicated steps, but they have to be tackled in the process of starting an ecommerce business. However if you acquire an adequately run ecommerce business website on platforms like Gruuz, this can all be taken care of.
The method of organization and the PG method are already put in place and the time and energy can be saved to formulate your strategic areas of interest.
Conclusion
The key to operating a successful ‘ecommerce’ business is having an effective operational website that is rearing to go, a website that has proven its efficiency already in the ecommerce industry. Gruuz offers a variety of ecommerce business websites at affordable and reasonable prices. Starting your own ecommerce business from scratch may have some benefits but we highly recommend buying an existing operational one and expanding it.
FAQs
Q. How to Start an Ecommerce Business in India for Beginner?
If you are completely new to the world of online shopping businesses, starting with dropshipping can be the most convenient approach. In India, popular marketplaces like Amazon India, Flipkart, or Meesho are widely used and give you easy access to a large customer base. This way, you won’t have to handle the hassles of maintaining your own website in the beginning, and you can avoid heavy inventory costs and logistics issues.
Q. When Start an Ecommerce Business in India, what are the typical challenges that new owners face??
Many first-time online store owners in India find themselves unfamiliar with the entire setup and thus encounter several hurdles. The common difficulties include:
- Customer Acquisition: Gaining those first few customers and building brand awareness can be quite challenging. Effective marketing strategies and customer engagement become crucial at this stage.
- Inventory Management: Maintaining sufficient stock levels, coordinating with suppliers, and keeping track of product availability often proves complicated for newcomers.
- Shipping & Logistics: Efficiently packing orders and ensuring timely delivery to customers are essential for building trust and retaining buyers. Managing couriers and shipping costs also plays a key role.
- Financial Management: Monitoring cash flow, handling taxes, and maintaining proper financial records can be overwhelming, especially if one is not used to business accounting procedures.
