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The business of online selling in India is growing very fast. India is on its way to  becoming one of the world’s largest e-commerce markets. This growth also has the potential to generate huge employment opportunities.

Ecommerce  is increasingly becoming popular among Indians. Thousands of entrepreneurs  have already decided to establish themselves in this industry.

“Online Shopping Trend Report 2014”  prepared by Google in collaboration with Forrester research has predicted that online shoppers base in India will be 100 million by 2016.

Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) along with Price water house Coopers(PwC) has stated that Indian ecommerce industry is likely to cross 100 billion dollar mark by 2019.

The Indian market is nowhere near maturity. There is heavy funding by  national and international investors. India has also emerged as a huge opportunity for international e-commerce companies. Seeing the future of online selling in India, many leading global players are expected to expand their business in the Indian market.

This is evident as Jack Ma of Alibaba has pledged to invest in India. Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon also announced that he will invest 2 billion dollars.

As more and more companies are coming online, this is the perfect time for Indian start-ups, micro and small businesses to be a part of this rapidly growing industry. This is going to be huge. Watch the video at the end of this article.

Online selling is a good alternative for those who are unable to open offline stores. If you already have a traditional retail outlet, it is a good strategy to create online presence also, as you get the additional channel  to sell to the  local, national, and international customers.

The following recent developments clearly indicate the growth potential of India’s ecommerce market.

• Heavy funding by national and international investors who are investing billions of dollars clearly indicates the future potential of online selling in India.
• Soft bank of Japan, aspires to invest $10 billion in India.
• E-commerce giant Alibaba to invest in Paytm.com
• L. Capital Asia has planned to invest $50 million.
• RBI plans to stop two-step authentication for shopping online below 3000 rupees.
• Announcement by the Govt. to introduce GST to streamline tax structure which will make things easier for e-tailers.
• Launch of  Digital India programme by the Indian govt. with a mission to provide high-speed internet facility  to all gram panchayats by 2018.
• India Post, which has the largest logistics network in India, has announced the opening of its own e commerce portal.
• National Small Industries Corporation(NSIC) launched msmeshopping.com to promote micro, small and medium enterprises.
• Announcements by Railways and Postal department  to extend logistics support to e-commerce companies making deliveries to sub – urban and rural areas easier.
•   GOSF (Google Online Shopping Festival 2014 )  became a huge success where e-tailing giants like Snapdeal and Amazon etc. generated high turnovers. This clearly indicates how  online shopping trend is catching up in India.
• Amazon to build 1.6 million square feet facility in Hyderabad by 2018
• Launch of  ‘Capital Assist’ programme by Snapdeal to help SMBs  to raise working capital from  banks and non banking financial companies which are their financial partners.
  
• Signing of MoU between Ministry of textiles and Flipkart to provide online marketing platform to weavers and to give boost to handloom production in India.
  
•  Almost all big brands are planning to have their online stores.  Reliance has already started its online grocery site reliancefreshdirect.com.

The main reasons for the growth of  online selling India are:

• Indian consumers are at ease with the technology. They  are more aware of  making payments online with minimized risk.
  
• Continuing rise  of  middle class with more disposable income aiming for better standards of living.
  
• Because of busy lifestyle people have time constraint and they don’t have time to compare products in physical stores.
• Discounts, wider choice, best bargains and secured payment options.
• Greater availability of products and convenience  of products being delivered at home with cash on delivery options.
• Risk free shopping as  e-tailers have a return policy.
• Convenience of shopping  and  availing services like air and railway ticket bookings at home.
• Rise in the number of internet and smart phone users because of higher mobile penetration.
• Increasing trend of  online shopping in tier 2 & 3 cities because of lack of shopping malls.
• Increasing number of social media users.
• Increased urbanization.

It is high time to start this business because it has many advantages. Some of these are:

• You get the opportunity to build your own brand and to introduce new product ideas.

As  Steve Jobs said,

The smallest company in the world can look as the larger company on the web.

• Ecommerce has a very low entry barrier making it easy for new aspirants. With the presence of so many marketplaces in India, it is very easy for sellers to  get access to national and international customers. A seller just has to finalize the product and to get ready for selling.
• Anyone with basic knowledge to operate a computer can start this business. No knowledge of computer programming is required.
•  Online store is open 24 hours without your presence.
• You have the option to build this business from the comfort of your home. This gives you flexible working hours.
• You don’t need any physical store thus saving  time and money in setting up the shop.
• In the beginning, by choosing to sell at a marketplace like e-bay, you can start this business with nominal  investment. You can also sell used items with zero investment.
• Wholesalers have the opportunity to set up their own wholesale store or to get registered with B2B marketplace where they can set up free website as well.
  
• No need to hire employees in the initial stages especially when you are selling at marketplaces.

Conclusion

Keeping in view the scope and growth of ecommerce in India, this is the perfect time for aspiring entrepreneurs to make foray into this industry. Realize the opportunity  and take advantage of the growing trend.

Updated on March 5, 2015

Economic survey, an Indian government document says that the ecommerce sector in the country is likely to witness a growth of more than 50% over the next 5 years.  Read this.

Image via pixabay