The e-commerce industry globally has blown up into a revenue-generating tycoon ever since Amazon sold its first product, a book, online in 1995. According to NASSCOM, despite the Covid disruptions, the e-commerce industry has had a huge push this year resulting in a growth of expected revenue of US$56.6 billion in 2021. Thus, India is on its way to become a trillion-dollar economy by 2025.
Nowadays, we prefer ordering in our items due to the pandemic and take precautions for our safety. So there are two options to sell your items online – either create your own website and social media handles to promote it, or host your products on an existing online platform. Every business has its specific niche, and online platforms offer innumerable opportunities for owners to reach out to their potential customers’ needs and have a considerable outreach. This is the ultimate guide where we offer you 13 online marketplaces you can sell your products online at and reap the benefits.
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Build Your Own Store on a Marketplace
Building an online store is fun and gives you the freedom to experiment with, but online marketplaces allow you to concentrate solely on sales as customer rapport is part of their benefit. The visibility is additional, and shipments and logistics of the supply chain are balanced out with constant sales. If you are just started a new store and want to take it online, you can start an online store with Bikayi like the other 4 million merchants and you can check other popular e-commerce tools which are the best in their industry.
List of Best Online Selling Sites in India
1. Amazon
Amazon Shopping is the most trusted online marketplace in India. At least 79 percent of users online shop from this platform as it is a blend of furniture, clothes, electronic items, and their own brand offering digital entertainment services such as Prime, Alexa, Echo, etc.
Amazon in 2021 has garnered a revenue of INR16,639 crore for FY21, a 46 percent jump from the last year. Amazon is trusted for its fast delivery and wide product selection. To become an amazon seller, you need to create an account at Amazon Seller Central and submit your GST/PAN and bank account details. Then you could either handle Storage and Delivery of the products or you could let Amazon handle it; either way your business brand would be reflected when customers purchase your products. You can then sit back and earn double the sales amount while hosting on Amazon. You can learn more about it on Amazon case study.
2. Flipkart
Flipkart is India’s first multi-vendor online marketplace. The reason for its success was the reasonable prices and offers rolled out by the platform. It started as an online bookstore but sells everything today. They have several in-house brands such as SmartBuy for gadgets and homeware tools, and MarQ for major appliances. You can sell your products through Ekart with the benefits of its logistics services and fulfilment centres.
3. EBay
Globally, this is one of the first ever online platforms established since 1995. As of today, Ebay is available in 180 countries and all the products displayed on their page can be delivered to you. Ebay in India has more than 2 million active listings for products and anything can be sold here. If you have purchased something anywhere and think it’s weird, they have a weird section to sell it as well. The marketplace has an ebay Seller Centre where you can register your store details and list your product for a low-cost risk-free setup.
4. Snapdeal
Snapdeal is an Indian-origin marketplace founded in 2010 and based out of New Delhi. The company started with a niche of offering attractive deals and coupons, and has now evolved into an all-niche platform. Snapdeal has received funding from worldwide establishments such as AliBaba and Softbank and is becoming a popular marketplace for individuals to sell their products at. Their major niche is electronics; however, toys and appliances are also available on the platform.
5. Bikayi
Bikayi is the world’s largest e-commerce enabler. It is an online WhatsApp-integrated solution which helps local businesses and business owners establish their goods on an online platform. Bikayi provides a dedicated business coach who will guide a small business owner throughout the ecommerce store setup and attract customers on a global level. It enables your business to set its own website, list the products and create outreach as well. One of the easiest host platforms to increase your sales and customer base.
6. IndiaMart
Indiamart was founded in 1999 by Dinesh Agarwal. This was an online community built to simplify business, and is now India’s largest B2B online marketplace for distribution of goods and services. Indiamart has registered more than 4 million sellers and has over 50 million products on its portal. This portal is an accessible platform for all vendors as it connects to suppliers throughout India, which makes it easier to coordinate and sell your products online.
7. Udaan
Udaan is a B2B online marketplace specifically designed for small and medium enterprise operations. Through their centralised platform, buyers and sellers can directly connect and sell their products online. Over 30,000 transactions take place on the Udaan app digitally every day and they offer credit facility for registered purchasers on their market.
8. ShopClues
Shopclues was initially developed as an Online Bazaar with good discounts and offers, and they launched their listing via facebook. Slowly, it registered under the online marketplace group and is now home to over 6 lakh certified merchants and 28 million merchants. You can register your business under Merchant registration and set up your catalogue guided by Shopclues.
9. AliBaba
Alibaba has provided a magic carpet for businesses in India to expand their business globally. Alibaba provides a platform for all vendors, importers and exporters to expand on a national level and seek buyers online.
10. Shopify
Shopify might just be the place for you if you have a detailed model for an online bricks-and-mortar model. Shopify helps you enable your own online platform where you can customise your domain, enable social handles and connect payment getaways. A perfect solution for small businesses and merchandises to display their products.
11. PoshMark
Poshmark is available in India for all apparel-lovers. It is a leading clothes manufacturer and has been a huge hit in the US. In India, one can create an account on Poshmark and sell second-hand clothing and accessories, create products, and upload those pictures onto your virtual closet for online buyers.
12. Etsy
This is the best e-commerce marketplace for beginners and artistic people as it is a friendly and straightforward platform. Etsy is known for its colourful and vintage vibe. They have an active 3.4 million users and are the best platform for sustainable art and handcrafted items.
13. BookMyShow
BookMyShow is India’s number-one ticket distributor platform. The platform has been established in five countries and distributes tickets to movies, events, concerts, fan merchandise sales, etc. This is a host platform for events to promote and collaborate with, and one where BookMyshow handles the tickets and seating development.
Choose Your Best Online Platform
Regardless of your experience in the online business, it is important for merchants to explore all online marketplaces to set up your store or create a virtual one. E-commerce platforms are accessible to everyone through online development and smartphone penetration which helps the business with an added advantage of a built-in audience. We have provided you with a list of all of these platforms, which should make it easier for your business to venture into larger market opportunities.
