By Krishnan Naranapatty, Founder, Zupain
Picture this, your neighbour opens a big shop right next to your home, it’s convenient, so you start selling your homemade pickles at his shops. As soon as you enter, he takes away 20% of all your sales money, and on top of that, he covers the faces of your customers, so you don’t know who they are, where they live, or how to reach them ever again!
Sounds Strange, Right?
Well this is exactly what you sign up for, when you list your products on marketplaces. While you may get revenue after giving a substantial commission, you will never fully understand your customer, because today, the data across any 3rd party platform is very protected within the walled gardens and understandably so.
After navigating the constantly evolving e-commerce industry in India for a decade, I strongly feel that while marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, IndiaMart and social selling platforms like Instagram offer substantial visibility; owning an independent e-commerce store provides unparalleled benefits. Here’s why I recommend creating your own e-commerce store to leverage the e-commerce space pegged to grow 26% YoY FY-2023* in India:
Control over branding: Imagine crafting a unique product line only to have it lost amidst a sea of competitors on a marketplace, and perpetually trying to decode complicated algorithms to crack the code to increase the visibility for your product
Customer data ownership & customised marketing strategies : On marketplaces, valuable customer insights and critical actionable data often remain out of reach. Higher Profit Margins: Every sale on a marketplace comes with a fee, cutting into your profit margins. An independent e-commerce site eliminates these, allowing you to retain more of your hard-earned money.
Direct customer relationships: Unlike marketplaces, where customer interaction is minimal and generic, owning your site allows you to personalise service, loyalty programs, or engaging content, you can even create a community around your brand. One of our customers, A local coffee shop owner from Chennai, for example, transformed his business by using his website not just for sales but as a platform to share his passion for sustainable sourcing with his customers.
So, are marketplaces bad for budding entrepreneurs?
Absolutely Not!!
Starting your entrepreneurial journey on a marketplace is like opening a store in a well-established shopping mall. Marketplaces, much like a bustling mall, provide a space where foot traffic is already high and the infrastructure for selling is already in place. New business owners can set up shop quickly, benefiting from the mall’s reputation and built-in customer base to gain visibility and start sales without the initial legwork of building a brand from scratch or drawing in crowds.
However, once you start gaining some traction, it’s crucial to consider establishing your own e-commerce platform, where you have the freedom to gain full control over your brand’s presentation, customer interactions, and, most importantly, the customer data that the marketplaces typically do not share.
After helping over 1,000+ businesses thrive online, drawing from my experience at Zupain, here is my condensed 7-step guide for building your e-commerce presence in 2024:
1. Understand your market and audience: Begin by conducting thorough research into your target market. Utilise Google Trends to gauge consumer interest and seasonal trends in your product categories in your region.
2. Define Your Niche and Product Selection: Carving out a niche is crucial. Keep a hawk’s eye on the most sold/ most trending products on the marketplaces, monitor reviews and understand the pain- points that you can turn into the strength of your business. Do a deep-dive on the e-commerce marketplaces of similar markets like China, Thailand etc to stay one step ahead of the Indian market.
3. Create your store with the right e-commerce platform partner: Don’t get bogged down if your tech knowledge is limited to clicking selfies on your smartphone, it’s 2024, and the no-code platforms are here to help!
Select a platform that creates for you/ lets you create an intuitive UX and integrates essential functionalities in your budget. In your kick-off phase, ensure you choose a platform that offers 24X7 support. You can’t have a scenario where your payment integration is broken, you are losing money by the minute, and your website builder is nowhere to be seen!
There are many platforms in India like Zupain, DotPe, Dukaan that help budding entrepreneurs build an e-commerce store and provide a user-friendly interface with integrated payment gateways, shipping partners, and communication tools like Whatsapp, facilitating a seamless start and expansion of your online operations starting at just INR 6999/ year. Select a platform that handles the tech part of your e-commerce store end-to-end, so that you can focus on growing your business.
It’s very easy for new business owners to spend days trying to solve a broken site link. While at the
end of the day it may feel rewarding, don’t get into the trap of “busy work”; choose a provider that
acts as a tech partner for your business, and is not just a one-time tool.
4. Set up your online store: Designing an appealing and navigable store is crucial. Use Canva’s free plans to create engaging graphics and layout designs that enhance your product listings. Highlight what works for your category, like Hi-res images for fashion, reviews for food, configuration for tech; analyse what your customers are looking for in your store, and create campaigns to highlight it!
5. Legal compliance: Familiarise yourself with the necessary legal requirements and ensure compliance to safeguard your business. Tools like the Indian Government’s MSME Registration site offer valuable resources for understanding local regulations.
6. Drive traffic and optimise: Leverage Google My Business for local SEO, put yourself out there online across Instagram, Youtube as the founder. Don’t wait for a marketing team, find where your customers are, and start creating a community with snackable content bites from your smartphone.
7. Build customer relationships: Today the whole world is on Whatsapp and so used to messaging, use tools like Whatsapp for Business for instant customer service, live chats, and to maintain active engagement with your customers through personalised messages, and loyalty programs, it lets you foster a loyal community and encourages repeat business.
In the end, nothing beats understanding your customer’s needs and personalised customer service,
and your e-commerce store lets you master that!
Happy Selling!