Last Updated on February 1, 2023
This is a list of the best eCommerce platforms for startups and SMEs in India.
Our compilation consists of both the best eCommerce store builder software and eCommerce marketplaces that let you create your storefront and sell products directly on their platform.
Starting an eCommerce business in India can be a bit overwhelming.
There are many things to consider, from finding the right products to sell to building an attractive and user-friendly website to figuring out the best way to reach your target market.
And then, once you’ve got all that sorted out, you need to choose which eCommerce platform will work best for your business.
To help make the decision easier, we’ve put together a list of the best eCommerce platforms for startups and SMEs in India. So read on and find out which one is right for you.
Best eCommerce Platforms For Startups & SMEs
Shopify
With its global reach and ability to cater specifically to your needs, the Shopify platform has become integral to many Indian businesses.
Shopify is a popular choice among Indian entrepreneurs because it is easy to use and provides a smooth experience.
With Shopify, a global e-commerce platform, you can quickly sell your products online, even if you don’t know how to run a website. The innovative design and user interface make it easy to set up an elegant storefront or marketing campaign in no time.
Shopify has more than 70 professional eCommerce templates that can be changed to fit your needs. This gives you a wide range of themes to choose from.
The Shopify website offers a vast collection of add-ons for all user types. Anyone with an account can use the free and paid plug-ins on this platform, which makes it a fantastic choice when starting in eCommerce.
The Shopify plan is perfect for those who want the benefits of gift cards but need more than just basic reports. The advanced version offers an easy-to-use report builder and low per-transaction fees that will make your wallet happy.
Users of the eCommerce platform can use the “Buy Button” to sell their products through their Facebook business pages. This software works with almost all of the main languages and has options for selling through POS.
You can customize your store with the help of an expert, enjoy automatic carrier rates tailored just for your store, and even drop-shipping options, so it’s easier.
What makes this platform shine, though? All of these features will be meaningless unless customers visit, which they will do in large part due to Shopify’s 100% satisfaction guarantee or money-back policy.
Dukaan
Dukaan offers everything you need to build and maintain your online store in one easy-to-use package.
With features like our website builder, themes galore, and payment gateways for all payments, including PayPal, Standard & International Credit Cards, and bank account withdrawals and deposits; email marketing tools that let customers stay updated on their orders through emails sent automatically; and inventory management systems, there are no worries about missing out because someone else already bought what was being sold.
Dukaan offers everything a small business needs to thrive.
The platform’s custom domain and app for your company will help you establish an online presence in just minutes—no technical knowledge is required.
You can register domains on Dukkaan quickly, manage inventory easily with its robust uploader tool, or accept payments through our secure payment gateway without hassle.
Dukaan is a one-stop shop for businesses that want to start an online store. They can take care of everything, from setting up your storefront to designing it, without hassle or frustration.
Dukaan has a user-friendly interface and many features that cover most of your basic needs. It’s no wonder this platform is a favorite among online retailers.
What’s one great thing about Dukkaan? You can quickly provide tailored checkout experiences for customers—not only do they have the power to customize their carts, but they also have bulk export options, so you don’t need unlimited data at all times.
Dukaan offers a variety of templates to suit every brand and its unique requirements. The free themes are versatile enough, but if you want more flexibility or need help finding what you’re looking for in one of them, then the paid options are always available.
Instamojo
Instamojo is one of the most popular and easy-to-use eCommerce website-building platforms for small businesses to start their online presence.
More than 20 lakh independent retailers trust Instamojo to handle everything, from processing orders to handling shipping and customer service needs. This makes it easier than ever.
The best part? You don’t need any technical skills because they take care of everything, including beautiful templates that work on desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones. This means that your business can be seen on a variety of devices without having separate pages for each.
You get everything from a fully functional navigation bar down to payment processing with marketing tools integrated into this one platform, no matter your business type or size.
Instamojo makes it easy to set up your store with beautiful themes and all the integrated payments, shipping, and marketing tools you need to be successful.
Plus, their powerful SEO features will help you rank higher on Google and get discovered by more people.
And if you need help shipping your products, they have integrations with partners like Shiprocket, Pickkr, and more, so you can ship all over India.
Plus, they have a reseller network available so that you can get more distributors for your products and services. And if that’s not enough, they also offer domains at 70% less than market prices and have a “do-it-For-Me plan where the team will build your website for you.
And the best part is that their online store pricing is the most affordable in India, considering they offer many features.
Meesho
When looking for an online marketplace that has it all, look no further than Meesho.
This fast-growing site was founded in 2015 by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal with a simple mission: to create India’s version of Amazon, one where buyers can find anything they might need at competitive prices while sellers are guaranteed protection against fraud without having their margins cut too many thanks to zero commission rates and a seller support model.
Meesho is the newest and most popular way to buy online in India. It has a lot of benefits for sellers, such as free shipping with tracking numbers that can be accessed from a mobile phone.
Meesho is always looking for ways to improve its platform to make it easier and more convenient than ever before. They’re adding new features that will be beneficial not only to the sellers but also to buyers.
Meesho is a fantastic e-commerce site that offers both shopping and reselling for its users. They have an extensive product selection with high-quality goods, so you can be sure your purchase will last.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is one of the most powerful eCommerce platforms out there.
Its robust features and easy customization options make it perfect for any company that needs to offer its customers a unique experience with deep integration capabilities across multiple channels, like social media or email campaigns.
BigCommerce is an excellent eCommerce platform for enterprise-level software companies.
Like Shopify and Wix, Big Commerce offers web hosting and plenty of customization options to fit your needs.
International sales, SEO tools, and multichannel marketing on social media are all included with the purchase of this platform.
With BigCommerce, you can use many built-in marketing tools to promote your business.
Third-party gateways are an excellent option for those who want to avoid dealing with the hassle of setting up their system. There is no charge, and it’s easy.
You’ll get a good set of reporting tools. It has all the latest features, like an easy-to-use drag-and-drop page builder that quickly works out any template you need! You can make short URLs or use the AMP format for fast loading on your site with no limits regarding staff accounts, either free or paid ones.
WooCommerce
If you’re running an e-commerce site on WordPress, WooCommerce is the perfect plugin for creating beautiful product pages and encouraging customer interaction.
WooCommerce is a plugin that you can download for free from WordPress. It turns any website into an e-commerce store, and the Automatic Company develops it.
With WooCommerce, you can give your product pages the best design and most engaging experience with attractive themes. It also has call-to-action buttons for customers to post their comments on posts or products.
Gallery extensions make it easy to show your favorite items. You can make galleries and use the shopping cart’s custom-design features to make them look better.
Integration with more than 330 extensions makes this tool the ultimate choice for eCommerce store owners.
There’s no denying that WooCommerce has the upper hand in the design department, as you can take advantage of its extensive theme library or upload your own. But if customization gets you excited, be prepared for some challenges—coding skills might come in handy.
Amazon India
Amazon is an excellent eCommerce platform for startups or small businesses because they can start selling their products without spending much money at first glance.
The website sells various products from different categories, including electronics, furniture, clothing, jewelry, and medicine. You can find almost anything you need on Amazon India.
Amazon makes it easy for anyone to sell their products on the website. They provide vendors with targeted advertising and an ever-growing selection of customers that can buy what you’re selling. You can easily create your Amazon store within minutes.
India is one of the largest and fastest-growing markets for eCommerce.
And within the eCommerce sector, electronics is the dominant segment. This is mostly because India has a large number of young people who are used to buying gadgets and other tech products online. Amazon is well-positioned to take advantage of this trend, as their user interests align with the electronic commerce boom in India.
Amazon sells products in many other popular categories besides electronics. These include Echo and Alexa, Amazon Prime digital media, men’s and women’s fashion, home, grocery, sports, and cars.
So if you’re planning to start a business specifically in electronics, Amazon is the best eCommerce platform in India.
Flipkart
Flipkart is the e-commerce giant of India. Founded in 2007, Flipkart has become a booming enterprise with services comparable to Amazon and traffic surpassing 1 billion consumers.
Flipkart is the best place to sell your products if you are a seller.
For starting businesses or those looking for an easier way into retailing online, this platform offers great benefits like lower costs (due to its low price), which allow sellers more room within their budgets when listing products.
Flipkart is a great way to get your product in front of people. You don’t even need an entire line or any previous business experience. All it takes is one product and some documents, which can be found on their website.
Flipkart is a popular Indian e-commerce platform that benefits from its popularity.
The company has been making targeted marketing efforts to bring more customers to the site, like Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale, where sellers can expect an increased order volume during this period for their products or services offered at affordable prices with free shipping.
Zepo
Zepo is a software company that powers more than 2000 stores in India. They also offer eCommerce solutions for small and new businesses and a platform for building sites.
Zepo’s versatile themes and templates are easy to customize, making it an excellent choice for those who want complete control over their site.
It offers a powerful, easy-to-use website builder with more than 100 responsive themes.
What makes Zepo stand out as an eCommerce platform is its comprehensive range of add-ons. From testimonial blocks and Instagram feeds to video banners and parallax, Zepo’s got you covered.
And its packages come with SEO-optimized features, so your site will rank highly in search engine results.
Plus, Zepo’s customer support team is second to none. You’ll get access to a dedicated personal assistant who can help with onboarding, troubleshooting, and advice on growing your business.
And sales features are top-notch, too. Zepo has integrations with multiple marketplaces, free payment gateways, and Zepo Courier software. So if you’re looking for an e-commerce platform to help you take your business to the next level, look no further than Zepo.
Magento
Magento is a great choice for eCommerce users who want to be in charge of everything.
It is one of the best eCommerce platforms for startups and small to medium-sized businesses.
The hosted system offers powerful features and flexibility but at the expense of complexity or cost, both in terms of the management and technology skills needed to run it successfully.
The hardest part of this platform is building the entire infrastructure yourself. You need advanced coding and development skills to do so.
It is an open-source platform with a high level of functionality and customizability. A large group of active users can offer help and support through tutorials and other ways to fix problems.
Magento is also highly scalable, so you will not need to upgrade to another platform as your business grows. Additionally, integration with email platforms such as Mailchimp is easy so that you can stay in touch with your customers.
Zyro
Zyro is a great website builder that can be easily customized to meet your needs.
Zyro lets you build a website using AI and gives you access to other advanced features at low prices. This gives you the best of both worlds and gives your business room to grow.
The platform provides an easy way to build websites and sell products online. The website builder has a range of AI tools that can help you with various aspects, like generating text or logos for your company’s branding needs, all while being fully customized to fit any design style.
Zyro’s website template selection is excellent for any site you might need. They’ve got everything from regular web pages to e-commerce platforms, so there will always be something perfect.
Zyro’s grid-based editor makes it easy to align and customize templates. The more than 100 well-made designs are separated into categories for both regular websites and eCommerce sites, making it easy to find the right one.
It is a great website builder for beginners with little or no technical know-how. Its easy, straightforward, and intuitive design makes it simple to build your site from scratch—not to mention all of the features that make tasks more manageable.
Conclusion
eCommerce platforms are a dime a dozen.
A new platform or CMS is claimed to be the best option for businesses every other day.
And while it’s true that there are multiple great options out there, choosing the right one for your business model and requirements can be a daunting task.
If you’re starting an eCommerce business from scratch, then Shopify might be your best option. However, if you’re looking to add eCommerce functionality to an existing website or blog, then WooCommerce would be a better choice.
Of course, this is based on our experience, and we’d love to hear what your experience says.
As the last word, switching platforms or content management systems after a store is up and running is a complex process and can be a nightmare. So, make a prudent and informed decision with good foresight.
