The online platform is a now becoming a new trend from where you buy your daily needs. This marketplace has evolved ever since its existence. In India, there are 120 million people who will shop online this year. According to ASSOCHAM- Resurgent Joint Study, the total sales in India will likely to increase from the $717.73 billion during CY 2014 to touch $1,244.58 billion in 2018. The total sales are growing at an impressive rate of 15% which is very high and is expected to reach 23% in the year 2021. The online users who buy goods will increase from 120 million to 329 million by the year 2021.
Another study by IBEF shows that the Internet penetration in India grew from just 4 percent in the year 2007 to 35.03 percent in 2017, making a compound annual growth rate of 24.23 percent between 2007 and 2017. India’s internet economy is expected to by 2020, majorly backed by e-commerce.
Why e-commerce?
The e-commerce market is the future of marketplace. In the old days when people want to start a business then the first step is to rent or buy a place in the market where they will sell their product. These types of sales are term as offline selling. The major disadvantage of the offline mode of selling is a limited customer and a high cost of establishing. In online business, there is a very low establish cost as compare to the offline. In online e-commerce website you just have to register yourself as an authorized seller which is free and start selling.
Why sell on already established websites?
The already established e-commerce website has a very good customer base which makes a business to pitch the customer easily and the cost of marketing is reduced also the sale will be much faster than the normal online website. The website that is already established will also take care of the shipping and processing of the product. Websites like Amazon stores the item in their warehouse and when the order come they ship the product to the customer this further reduces the cost of the maintenance and inventory management. This benefit makes the online business in already established websites to run on automation. The seller just has to buy the product form the market and list it on the Amazon seller website and you are ready to sell the product. If you are new to online selling, getting e-commerce website developed and setting all logistic by yourself could be tedious task for you and ultimately it could kill your enthusiasm.
What to sell?
How to find the niche? –
The goal of the business is to make a profit. This profit can be achieved by selling your product to many customers. Therefore, the product that is trending and sells must be your goal. Here are some of the best selling categories to focus on while finding the niche-
- Apparel, fashion accessories and footwear
- Handmade products
- Beauty and personal care products
- Electronics, appliances, and accessories
- Home and kitchen products
For an in-depth detailed, read the article on The E-commerce Business Preparation.
How to find the right business model?
There are two kinds of a business model that you can target
- B2B
- B2C
B2C Business Model
B2C stands for Business to Customer. In this model, you are selling the product to a customer who is an individual person who consumes the product by himself. In this model the quantity is low and the product is sold on its MRP.
B2B Business Model
B2B stands for Business to Business. In this model, you are selling the product to an organization. This organization utilizes your product as a raw material and sells it further. In this model the quantity is bulk and the product is sold at a wholesale rate.
Where to sell?
B2C Business Model
Amazon
Amazon is a leading giant when it comes to e-commerce. The company started its operation in the year 2013 and it grew rapidly ever since. This platform is the best and favorite choice of sellers because most of the traffic is offered by the Amazon making it their marketplace. Amazon sells everything from daily needs to fashion item etc.
Flipkart
Flipkart is similar to Amazon which sells everything. The company was established in the year 2007. This is also a very prime place to sell the products.
Jabong
Jabong is an online fashion shopping websites that deal with the apparels. The main target of this website is youth and the fashionable trends. It is a subsidiary of Flipkart and Jabong was acquired by the Flipkart in 2016. Another product that Jabong sells is footwear, fashion accessories, beauty products, fragrances, home accessories, and other fashion and lifestyle products
Myntra
Myntra is an online fashion shopping website that sells apparels, footwear, fashion accessories, beauty products, fragrances, home accessories, and other fashion and lifestyle products. It is also a subsidiary of Flipkart which was acquired by the Flipkart in the year 2014.
Snapdeal
Snapdeal had 300,000 sellers, over 30 million products across 800+ diverse categories from over 125,000 regional, national, and international brands and retailers and a reach of 6,000 towns and cities across the country. It also sells everything from apparels to footwear, daily needs etc.
B2B Business Model
IndiaMART
IndiaMART is one of the leading marketplaces that provide B2B services. It is ranked 2nd globally after Alibaba in selling online service to the other business.
Alibaba
Alibaba is the leading e-commerce platform that provides service to the other companies. It is ranked 1st globally in selling business online service. It is a Chinese e-commerce platform that provides cheap products.
Trade India
Trade India started in 1996, the portal is for small businesses based in India and around the globe. Trade India sells everything from apparels to daily needs, industry supplies etc.
Amazon Business
Amazon India looking at the potential of getting business from the B2B segment recently launched their new portal as Amazon Business. In this portal, the available items include- stationary, grocery, daily needs etc.
Exporters India
Exporters India is one of the most searchable online B2B portals that sell everything. Exporters India is the home for countless products and businesses across the globe.
Social commerce
Social commerce is a new concept that all the leading social media website are utilizing. Social media is a very powerful platform which can be used to make a lot of money. It is similar to the other website but the only difference is that the social media platform does not participate in the business other than generating the lead. This lead generation is also absolutely free of cost. But, in social commerce the seller has to look forward to shipping, billing etc. also trust is a big issue in this platform. As both the parties, seller as well as the buyer has to trust each other in the monetary transaction as well as delivery respectively.
The Facebook marketplace is the best place to buy the local product in the comfort of your home. The concept is very appealing as you are selling the product to the local person within your city. This made the logistics cheaper and will increase the margin.
Instagram is another marketplace which is not an official marketplace but can be used as a marketplace portal where you post your product in the Instagram post and rest of the business dealing will be done via other ways. The Instagram becomes just a lead generation platform.
All the studies above mentioned states the importance of e-commerce in the present as well as the future global market. The previously established marketplace will increase your sales as well as your revenue. Sellers get a lot of benefits as well as low shipping charges, fulfilled by Amazon etc. The refund and returns are also managed by the company hence, making the process of selling hassle easy and free.