How to Start Ecommerce Business in India?
In India, the e-commerce industry has already seen a huge growth. The main reason for this is increasing penetration of the internet and the Smartphone. With an enormous improvement and increase in the number of providers of internet service and the introduction of 4G mobile services at an attractive price are some important reasons of e-commerce boom in India.
Via, this article, we tell you the process of starting your ecommerce business in the India. It is essential for you that you understand the ecommerce market trends. For this you require to do an extensive research on those products which are sold in the various ecommerce websites.
You need to select the product which you like the most. You need to gain a thorough knowledge about the product before selling the product. If you want to setup ecommerce business in India, then you must gain complete knowledge about those products which customers like the most. In the India, these five products are sold mostly on the ecommerce websites.
Top E-commerce Business Categories in India
Artificial Jewelry
Indian women like artificial jewelry a lot. This is the reason that most of the buyers purchase artificial jewelry from ecommerce websites.
Smartphones and Computers
Electronic products like smart phones and computers are highly popular in India. The ecommerce websites provide a solid platform to the Indian consumers to buy these kinds of products from ecommerce stores.
Beauty Products
Beauty products are liked equally by male as well as females. There is high demand of skin care products on the ecommerce stores.
Books
Books of various types like academics, magazines, novels, and fictions and various others are having highly popular on the ecommerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal etc. The discounted prices of books and their availability are two factors which induce buyers to purchase books.
Products Related to Fashion
People of all ages regularly spends some time on the various ecommerce websites to online check the various types of fashion products.
Setting up an Ecommerce Business
The business or trade which is performed via internet is known as ecommerce. In the past years, mobile commerce or m-commerce is the two buzz words. Many customers of ecommerce websites purchase products via their Smartphone. To start a business of ecommerce in India, there are two ways. These are making a proprietary website of ecommerce or join a marketplace which is established already.
In the case of a marketplace, you get the option of customizing your ecommerce store by showing your company’s identity. This signifies that the color schemes and logo of your company will be in full plan. This is not essential that your public interface is also your ecommerce store.
Your website must look good in Smartphone, tablet and computer.
Build Your Ecommerce Website
Making your personal ecommerce website is a very difficult method of launching a business of ecommerce. To start a proprietary ecommerce website, you need a good payment gateway for getting payments, online marketing team and a web development team.
Launching a proprietary website of ecommerce is a big initiative and needs a huge amount of monetary investment and also require great efforts as well to successfully buildup an ecommerce business.
Join an Established Marketplace
If you join an established marketplace then it is a simple way to begin a business of ecommerce to sell services and products online. If you join as a seller on an ecommerce marketplace, then you only need GST registration and a bank account.
This makes the entire procedure very simple and easier. Also, all the aspects of ecommerce platform like logistics, payment gateways, marketing, and development of technology are handled by the platform of the marketplace.
This will decrease the seller workload. Therefore, sellers can join various marketplaces and easily sell their products online. This way they can easily begin or start a business of ecommerce.
Benefits of Marketplace
Fast selling: In an established marketplace, you can begin the process of selling very quickly, i.e. immediately after registration.
Factor of trust: A customer always wants to purchase products from a reputed source. Therefore, you can have the benefit of enjoying marketplace goodwill and enhance your sales.
Large infrastructure: A reputed marketplace has large infrastructure and huge investments. If you are the owner of a small company or a startup, then it is better that you sell your products in a marketplace. You require to register yourself and the marketplace will take care of the management and marketing.
Vast potential to reach consumers: A marketplace already has a huge customer base and their online presence is also very large. Huge customer traffic is generated on a marketplace. This will provide very good opportunity to you to sell your products.
Disadvantage of Marketplace
Lot of competition - In a marketplace, the competition among sellers is fierce. There are various sellers who are selling the similar type of products which you are selling at the marketplace. Therefore, there is huge competition you faced to sell your products.
It is not possible to create a brand - When you sell your product on an established marketplace, then customer only remember the name of the marketplace. Therefore, it is very difficult for you to make a distinguished personal brand of yours. It is also very difficult for you for the brand promotion when there are many people already selling the similar products.
No Gaining of Customers - Most of the marketplace does not share the details of their customers. They only give you message about the product order. They take the product from you after it is waiting for dispatch.
Some highly popular m-commerce or e-commerce marketplaces are following:
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Legal Formalities for Starting an Ecommerce Business in India
To start a business of ecommerce or launching a proprietary website of ecommerce or become a marketplace seller, the following types of registration are necessary.
Company or LLP Registration
While launching a business of ecommerce, it is nice to have a LLP or a company to have limited protection liability and enhance the task of performing the business. Having an LLP or company make it sure that opening accounts of bank in the business name or getting service tax/GST registration are fast and easy.
All the marketplaces permit partnership firms and proprietorships to sell products on their e-commerce portal. In case of a dispute, there is no protection of limited liability. Therefore, it is better to initiate selling with a company or LLP.
If the promoters want to begin a proprietary website of ecommerce store, then it is good to start with a company because this is a kind of entity which can permit for equity funds or angel funding. This is necessary for a successful venture of ecommerce.
GST Registration
GST registration is mandatory to become a seller on the website of ecommerce store or beginning a proprietary website of ecommerce store. GST registration is required for persons who want to sell their products or goods in the India.
Bank Account
After the LLP or the company is incorporated, you can easily open a bank account in the business name by going to the bank or contacting them. GST registration required to open a bank account in the business name in case of proprietorship. To get a payment gateway for a proprietary website of ecommerce store or to list products on the marketplace of ecommerce store, then it is mandatory to open a bank account.
Payment Gateway
For a proprietary website of ecommerce store, the payment gateway is necessary and is used for processing the payments of the customers. The payment gateway authorized an ecommerce website to accept internet banking, net banking, debit card and credit card payments from various credit card companies and banks.
One gateway of payment is enough to accept various kinds of online payments. After the customer send the payment, the business bank account gets the payment via the payment gateway in two or one days of business.
If you sell your products via ecommerce marketplaces, then via the payment gateway, the marketplaces accept the payment and directly credit the money to the seller bank account immediately. Therefore, in case of marketplace, a bank account is mandatory and a payment gateway is not needed.
Authorized Legal Documents
When you sell your products online, then it is very important to safeguard the promoters of the business and the business via proper use of conditions and terms document and policy of privacy. If the product is selling on a proprietary website of ecommerce store, then the privacy policy, disclaimer, conditions and terms need to be framed by the business based on the basis of products sold online and the activities nature of the business.
If the products are sell by the business via online marketplace, then the agreement of the sellers or legal document is given by the marketplace and the seller need to obey the agreement of the sellers. The business needs to read the agreements of the seller before confirming the seller agreement.
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