Method to the Madness: E-commerce marketplaces are organising the otherwise unorganized market

Ecommerce is indeed an aggregator of trade and a great leveler. Using the power of an online marketplace, any seller from anywhere, big or small, can sell things to anyone anywhere in India. In spite of its $600 billion size, India is a disorganised and highly fragmented retail market. The “mall culture” brought some semblance of organisation, but it did not impact the country’s mass-market as it did in the Western paradigm. Or maybe ecommerce came in too soon here.

According to a statement by eCommerce Association of India: “One of the most important aspects being missed by almost everyone today is that eCommerce is possibly the best way to organize the unorganized sectors in India.”


By nature, ecommerce is all-pervasive and inhibited only by Internet penetration. It has the power to take in its wave every one of the millions of traders, manufacturers, craftsmen in India. For instance, ShopClues.com brings together over 1 lakh sellers from every state and UT in the country. This is the largest community of SMBs on a common platform that gives them a level playing field to compete with larger, organised players in the market. ShopClues also has the NRH initiative (National Retail Heritage) which offers local specialties from iconic Indian markets like Jaipur jewelry, Agra footwear, Tirupur garments, Lucknow’s Chikankari, etc.

Let us briefly take a look at the Indian retail industry. With the largest population of youth in the world, coupled with increasing disposable incomes of the rising middle class, India is the 5th largest and among the fastest growing retail markets in the world. Currently worth $570 billion, retail is responsible for 14-15% of the country’s GDP, and is therefore, a significant contributor to the economy.

However, the industry, which is largely un-organised and fragmented, is dominated by local stores and neighbourhood bazaars. The share of country’s organised retail stand at 8%, which is drastically low compared to even other developing countries. Meanwhile, e-commerce is creating a blitz in India owing to the considerable shift in consumer buying behaviour. Pretty much everything is bought and sold on the Internet now. The e-commerce and m-commerce disruptions are here to change the face of retail in the country.

Organising the retail market
· Giving Scale to Retail: The most interesting aspect of e-commerce is that it offers tremendous scalability and convenience for any business. By riding the Internet highway, even a neighbourhood craftsman or a local artisan can gain pan-India reach and sell to customers anywhere in the country.
· Merchant is King: Every online seller can be as potent as a big brand with wide distribution network and heavy-duty marketing machinery.
· Wide Window: Since an online marketplace has unlimited virtual shelf space, any number of products can be showcased. So even lesser-known crafts, artefacts, personalized products, limited-edition items, can find a way to catch the shopper’s attention.
· Data Warehouse: Since all online activity can be tracked, monitored and analysed, the possibilities of putting this data to use are endless. Therefore, e-commerce is among the foremost beneficiaries of big data analytics.


A product and merchant agnostic marketplace like ShopClues allows anyone to sell on its platform, be it a brand, dealer, entrepreneur or manufacturer. The website has several innovative retail formats like National Retail Heritage, WholeSale marketplace, Factory Outlet, Official Brand Stores, etc. Each of these formats has its unique value proposition, format-specific merchandise a loyal customer base and dedicated marketing effort by the team.

The platform helps merchants in identifying a suitable customer base, propose customised offers and implement sales and marketing decisions quickly. Small retailers can go online without spending on extensive technical skills or marketing investments. For customers, this means more choices to pick from, better services, faster delivery and customized or personalized offers. Consumers today want to buy products and services at their terms, at their convenience and in a way that suits them the most.

The online marketplace is the immense power it places in the hands of even the smallest merchant hailing from the most remote corners of the country. A marketplace is truly successful when it enables even a small merchant to create a ‘brand’, just like his bigger corporate counterparts with heavy distribution machinery and marketing muscle. Marketplaces provides the perfect platform for them to set up shop with minimal investment and risk, while managing all supporting functions like marketing, logistics and customer support. In an unorganised retail market like India, where much of the trade happens in small towns and cities, the marketplace serves as a great leveller for merchants to reach out to customers everywhere in the country.

(About the author: This article has been contributed by Sanjay Sethi, CEO and Co-founder, ShopClues.)