Flashback 2013: Top 10 e-commerce sites in India

Trendsetters. Path-breakers. Innovators. Call them what you want, some people and organisations have always significantly affected their contemporary times and events. There are some companies or business models which have changed the course of business in India. Those were the times when buying anything online was viewed with doubt and skepticism. More so if it was a suggestion to buy books or electronics products online. Those were the times when e-commerce was still largely unknown; security concerns and reliability factors were still looming large in a prospective online buyer’s mind. But things have come a long way ever since. Buying online is a much more acceptable idea now.

A few significant developments have made buying a more acceptable idea. Online shopping has been growing very fast in India and in 2013, the Indian e-commerce market increased to whopping 88% to $16 billion, proving the thriving online retail trends and business.

According to CLSA report published in November 2013, India’s e-commerce market without online travel industry is worth approximately $3.1 billion, and it’s expected to reach $22 billion by 2018.  

Online shopping not only offers fast, easy, money saving buying experience, it also offers unbelievable discount and fast delivery. With some traditional drawbacks online sales are flourishing in India and thus we see launching of new and exciting websites in every few months.

Here’s our list of top 10 Indian websites of 2013:

1. Flipkart.com: India’s most popular online shopping portal, Flipkart was founded in 2007, by Sachin and Binny Bansal. Flipkart’s revenue touched over Rs.  281 crore ($43 million) in 2012-13 making it country’s most favourite e-commerce company. Head-quartered in Bangalore, Flipkart changes shopping pattern in India with its easy deals, secured payment mode and fast delivery. Flipkart is selling a mind-boggling range of products: magazines, books, mobile phones, computers, computer peripherals, cameras, home appliances like air-conditioners and washing machines, perfumes, apparel, watches, jewelry, footwear, stationery, office supplies, toys, music, movies, etc. According to Alexa rating, Flipkart is one of the top 10 websites in India and beloved one stop shop for online shoppers.

2. Amazon.in: World’s largest online retailer Amazon officially started its operation in India in 2013 with wide range of products. Online retailer Amazon’s footsteps in Indian marketplace only proves India’s whooping growth in e-commerce business and how foreign companies are eager to start their business here. Amazon.in offers books, movies, songs, television shows, software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry in India.  The company sells consumer electronics including the Amazon Kindle e-book reader and the Kindle Fire tablet computer. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, Amazon is indeed a Path-breakers in world business and is ready to take Indian shoppers by storm.

3. ebay.in: One of the most popular online store in today’s India, eBay.in has started their India operations in August 2004 after acquiring Bazee.com.  One of the most successful Online Marketplace in the world, eBay works on consumer-to-consumer basis with a local, national and international trading. E-bay sells almost everything under Sun. From fashion to Audio and Home Entertainment and Home décor; from Jewellery to Electronics gadgets including Cameras, Optics, Mobile Phones, Laptops and Tablets – everything can be available on eBay. Sell-resell-1st hand or used – e-Bay is everywhere. Founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995, eBay’s India inc has over 5 million registered users from over 4,306 cities in India and around 30,000 sellers sell on eBay India annually.

4. Snapdeal.com: Snapdeal.com is an Indian Online Marketplace, founded in 2010 by Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl. Headquartered in New Delhi, snapdeal acquired popularity very soon with its unique and fresh and unbeatable offers & deals. Featuring a wide assortment of products across categories like Mobiles, Electronics, Fashion accessories, Apparel, Sports, Books; and services like Restaurants, Spas & Entertainment, Snapdeal.com has been able to attracked over 18 million customers in just three years. With introduction of ‘same day delivery’ Snapdeal puts lots of pressure on fellow rivals.

5. Homeshop18.com: Network 18 Group’s online retrial venture HomeShop18.com founded in 2008. With a backing from India’s first 24-hour Home Shopping TV channel, homeshop18.com has become India’s fifth most trafficked Ecommerce portal. Lots of renowned brands like Reebok, Nokia, LG, Motorola, Philips, Kaya, and Godrej have been associated with HomeShop18. After it has acquired CoinJoos.com, an online books, movies and music retailer in August, 2011 HomeShop18.com becomes major online books sellers in the country.

6. Myntra.com: India’s number one fashion and lifestyle online shopping retailer, Myntra.com was founded by Mukesh Bansal, Ashutosh Lawania, and Vineet Saxena in 2007. Headquartered in Bangalore, Myntra.com has been funded by Venture Capital funds like IndoUS, IDG & Accel Partners. It’s personalized gifts including T-shirts, mugs and caps have become very popular with the customers and turned into a B2C oriented company. Myntra offers products from more than 350 Indian and international brands including Nike, Inc., Reebok, Puma, Adidas, Asics, Lee, Lotto, Decathlon, FILA, John Miller and Indigo Nation.

7. Indiatimes.com: Indiatimes Shopping is one of the most popular online shopping destinations in India. Featuring over 30,000 products from a wide range of categories such as apparels, accessories, jewellery, electronics, books, music, movies, Games, Baby Products etc., Indiatimes Shopping is one of the first electronic commerce in India. Customers can place the orders over phone. Backed by The Times Group, Indiatimes Shopping is an official online distributor for Nokia phones in India and also it sells organic and ayurveda products through its Satvik Shop. Indiatimes shopping has signed partnership with Land Mark to have 3 Million Books listing on their website.

8. Infibeam.com: Gujarat based ecommerce site Infibeam.com was founded by Vishal Mehta in 2007. Infibeam is one of the few popular online retail stores in the country selling wide range of products. Infibeam stands out for its strong market presence that provides significant support to various brands. It is called India’s answer to the Amazon.com. Infibeam launched India’s first e-Book Reading Device ‘Pi’ in 2010 and Wi-fi enabled version Pi2 in 2011. It launched the Android-based tablet named ‘Phi’. In 2011, Infibeam introduced ‘Build-a-Bazaar’ which helps start-ups all over India to open their own online retail business under their own respective brand names without worrying about the technological back-end. Infibeam has provided technological infrastructure to brands like HiDesign, TTK Prestige, Crossword Bookstores and Kolkata Knight Riders, and has helped each of them establish their respective online stores.

9. Yebhi.com: Founded in 2009 by Man Mohan Agrawal, Nitin Agarwal, Rajul Jain and Danish Ahmed, Yebhi.com is an Indian Online shopping portal for Home, Lifestyle & Fashion. Yebhi.com retails products from over 250 brands in Shoes, Apparels, Bags, Mobiles, Cameras, Sunglasses, Watches, Books, Laptops , Home furnishing, Home décor, Home ware, Lingerie and Fragrances. Yebhi.com won AIMIA’s loyalty awards. Earlier known as BigShoeBazaar.com, the new and revamped Yebhi.com has raised INR 100 Cr from market and ready to take on its competitors.

10. Jabong.com: India’s leading fashion and lifestyle e-commerce site, Jabong.com features apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty products, fragrances, home accessories and other fashion and lifestyle products. Founded in 2012 by Arun Chandra Mohan, Praveen Sinha and Lakshmi Potluri, Manu Jain & Mukul Bafana, Jabong earns annual revenues of estimated to be $150 million in 2013. Headquartered in Gurgaon, Jabong becomes one of the most visited online shopping portals in India. Jabong’s fascinating growth story with 60% orders from small towns of the country is another proof of growing online business trends in India.

Spectralhues also zoom down some of the following sites to watch out for in 2014.

• Inkfruit.com
• Fashionforyou.com
• 99labels.com
• Firstcry.com
• HushBabies.com
• Pepperfry.com
• yepme.com
• zovi.com

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