How You Can Set up An E-Commerce Business In India?
The ability to sell your products and services online has helped a lot of businesses and individuals grow & expand. The major factor contributing to a huge number of e-commerce startups is the increased availability and usage of smartphones. People who decided to start an online business were the risk-takers who were ready to embrace the outcome and the outcome was good as it helped them to grow their business and increase their revenue.
Most people aren’t risk-takers and they think that starting an online business is a very hard and difficult task but if you know the whole process then it is one of the best and easiest ways to expand your business. So for this purpose, we have come up with some tips that will help you start an online business in India. The Indian market has a lot of potential for those who can grab opportunities. So, let’s get started.
Choosing The Right Business Model
There are two ways by which you can sell products online and you will have to choose from these two major business models to enter the market and sell your products & services. You can either create your e-commerce store and sell the products as a separate entity or you can create an online store on an already established marketplace such as Snapdeal, Amazon, Flipkart and then sell your products.
Some people like to build their stores and sell customized products and services like Scrabble Word Finder that are unique only to their stores. Others want to sell their products through an already established marketplace because it is the easiest way and there is minimal risk as compared to opening an e-commerce store of your own.
1. Setting Up Your Own E-Commerce Web Store & Selling
If you think that you have a very unique product that only you can provide then setting up an e-commerce web store of your own is a good way to enter the online market because the products that you will be selling or the services that you will be providing such as Words With Friends tools, will be unique to your store only and you will be able to create a brand name for your store.
If you have decided to create your e-commerce web store then you will need to consider some things and then decide whether the costs involved can make good profits for you or not. The things to consider include the following:
Brand/Store & Website Name
Customers will know your store and your brand through business names only. So, you must choose a catchy and interactive business name that will stick in the mind of the users and the name you will be choosing should be short, catchy, and not similar to any other brand out there.
Once you have decided on the name for your business, you will need to choose the website or domain name. Choosing the right domain name, similar to your brand name is important and it should have the same characteristics as your brand’s name. Once all of that is done, you will need to build a website for your store. You can either do it yourself or hire a website designing company to do it for you.
Payment Gateways
After you have got your website developed, you will need to set up a payment gateway. There are different ways, you can either open a merchant account linked to the bank account that can directly accept credit & debit card payments or you can use other payment gateways such as Paytm or Paypal and integrate these into your store. Popular payment gateways are usually built into most of the e-commerce software out there such as Shopify.
Alternatively, you can also choose the cash-on-delivery option to make it convenient for the customers to pay once they receive their order.
Shipping Methods
Now comes the shipping method. Online business isn’t successful if your customers are unable to get their orders. Therefore, choosing a reliable shipping partner is important and along with that, deciding appropriate shipping charges that are not too much but also not too little. Most websites and stores nowadays provide free shipping options for orders over a specific amount, e.g Free shipping for all orders over 2000 rupees. Make sure that the shipping partner that you are choosing can deliver the product to the customers at the given time.
Promotion Of Your Brand
After you’re done with the brand name, website name, website design, payment gateways, and shipping options, you will need to promote your e-commerce web store. You can employ various digital marketing techniques to promote your business. You can also take help from bloggers and influencers to promote your products in front of their audiences.
2. Selling Through Established Market Places
If you think that setting up your e-commerce web store is not worth it then you can choose the option of selling through an established marketplace such as Amazon or Flipkart which is the easiest way to reach out to a great number of customers in minimal time but remember that these websites have high marketing fees along with a commission on every sale and you don’t have control over how your product is displayed to the customers.
Whatever business model you choose, make sure that you sort out other things too such as GST Registration, PAN Number, Bank details, etc.
