How To Sell Online In India: Website vs Marketplace

How to sell online - website vs marketplace
(Last Updated On: May 30, 2023)

Selling online in India is easier than you can imagine. There are several platforms that allow you to start your online business. But should you opt for a marketplace or get your own website?

Whether you’re a beginner or a pro at online selling, this guide will give you a comprehensive overview of where and how to sell your products online. Even if you’ve never owned a physical store, you can start selling products online for a profit. 

How to sell online: Marketplace vs website

Broadly speaking, there are 2 ways of selling online

  1. Using a marketplace
  2. Creating your own website/online store 

Selling on an online marketplace

As global eCommerce sales continue to grow, marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart top the online marketplace list in India. These marketplaces let you list your products and sell directly to your customers. Each marketplace has its own audience and its own fee structure. You need to compare the features of each marketplace to find the best fit for your store and brand.

1. Pick Your Platform

There are many channels for selling your products, but the two largest are unquestionably Flipkart and Amazon. Let’s take a look at some of the best online marketplaces for your business.

  • Flipkart– Flipkart is India’s first and, arguably, most successful e-commerce company. Flipkart’s multi-vendor marketplace features over 100,000 registered sellers selling various gadgets, clothes, appliances, furniture, and books. It is ideal for selling high-demand and niche products.
  • Amazon-  For Indian consumers, online shopping equates to Amazon shopping. Amazon, which is trusted by more than 78% of online customers. It is ideal for selling a diverse range of things such as electronics, appliances, groceries, and apparel.

 

2. Determine Your Costs

Online marketplaces differ in how they charge for selling items. Generally, you can expect to pay a range of fees, including listing fees, transaction fees, commission, payment processing fees, etc. Each marketplace has its listing and transaction fees depending on the product you are selling on its platform. 

Listing fee for marketplaces

3. Create Your Listing

You will want to create an eye-catching listing that compels people to purchase from you immediately. Pick a product title of no more than 2 lines long, write an engaging product description, upload plenty of high-quality images and add a short video to showcase the product. According to Hubspot, 90% of people find product videos helpful in making their decision. 

4. Promote Your Listing

It’s important to bring traffic and increase visibility to generate revenue for your online marketplace. Tell customers where to find your shop and direct them to the place where you want them to be. Email and social posts on networks like Facebook and Instagram can be effective in driving traffic to your listing directly.

Related read: 5 Tips on Using Social Media to Please Your Customers

Create your own website/online store

Having your own store gives you greater freedom, less competition, and no seller fees. A platform like Instamojo is quick and easy to set up at affordable rates.

1. Pick Your eCommerce Website Builder

Ecommerce platforms come in different types with a varying set of native features and extensions. To identify the best choice for your business, ask yourself these questions and analyze:

  • How many users does the platform have?
  • What seller fees do you have to pay? 
  • What type of goods are you selling?
  • How reliable is the platform?
  • How much flexibility does the platform allow you?

Suggest eCommerce platform: Instamojo

Instamojo is an all-in-one eCommerce platform that’s a solid choice for any online business, at any stage of growth. Here’s why: 

  • Easy to set up
  • Safe and Secure
  • Affordable
  • Trustworthy
  • Simple
  • In-built payments, shipping, order management tools, SEO, and marketing tools. 

2. Get a web address

Just like your business name, a domain name is your unique identifier for consumers. Apart from guiding them to your online store, the right domain name can also improve brand recall and awareness. With Instamojo you can buy domains at affordable prices that fit your brand,  buy web hosting services,  link your domain to a professional mailbox and your eCommerce website. 

Watch this video to learn how to get your own domain-

3. Add eCommerce toolkit

Your online store toolkit has all the stuff you need to build a shop and help you scale your business to the top. Generate custom payment links, embed pay button, WordPress plugin, integrate Zapier, shipping partners and much more with Instamojo’s unique tools and plugins.

4. Add Your Products

Add a few products and product information including things like title, description, price and cost, category, etc. It is very important to include accurate product images to help customers understand exactly what they’re getting. For many products, high-resolution images showcasing the product from multiple angles will make a big difference in the number of sales and the frequency of returns.

5. Market and promote your store

Marketing is an ongoing process that takes a lot of time, but it’s a necessary part of growing your business. It impacts the overall success of your business. Your marketing efforts can be made a lot easier by features included within your eCommerce platform. Instamojo comes with a full suite of marketing tools like in-built SEO, email marketing, and more to help promote your store.

 

The Small Business Angle

If you are a small business that is product-oriented, you can start your FREE online store on Instamojo. It has a host of features like SEO-optimized links, invoice generators, and shopping carts among others.

However, if you want to make your own web store and are looking for an online store, check out Instamojo online stores. We also have special Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) plans that allow you to focus on your business while we handle the back-end for you.

Watch this video to learn how to set up your free online store on Instamojo.


GET YOUR FREE ONLINE STORE

9 comments
  1. Online Marketplace in India can be separated into a couple of subcategories – there are your typical online super shopping centers like Flipkart and Amazon that sell you all you may require under one virtual rooftop.

  2. Today you can purchase everything from car save parts to food supplies on the web, through explicit gateways, and the rundown is basically interminable. Here we have curated a couple of select exceptional commercial centers that few select up-and-coming online marketplace in India that cater to a more niche crowd.

  3. Great share you give here. We are a web development company and provide sales to clients for their business products as well as services. To target-present marketplace is difficult due to high competition since we focus to give something new than others and grabs the market.

  4. I have just started my online business and I was confused but by reading your blog I have got answers of my some queries. Really I enjoy reading this blog and keep updating on such topics thank you for sharing it.

  5. What a presentation and simply superb one and good analysis and well explained. Glad to see your article and great information…

  6. Right now I am selling my product through Bangladesh online and my store is in Bangladesh how can I sell my product through India online.Is it possible? if yes what is the system. You are requested to give me tips.

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