Deep Dive: India Rising Part 2— E-Commerce Disruptors in India

Executive Summary

This is the second report in our India Rising series focusing on the Indian startup ecosystem. We identify the following four retailers as the main disruptors in Indian e-commerce: Flipkart, Snapdeal, Quikr, and Bigbasket. There are five primary factors that have shaped the Indian e-commerce sector:

• A paucity of modern retail stores has boosted demand for products and brands sold online.
• Strongly price-competitive e-commerce marketplaces are well positioned to attract shoppers with limited incomes, who constitute a large part of India’s consumer population.
• Offering cash on delivery (COD) as a payment option allows more Indian consumers to buy online.
• India has one of the world’s largest Internet user bases, and Indian consumers’ disposable incomes are increasing.
• Government restrictions on foreign investment in India’s retail sector and Amazon’s and Alibaba’s relatively late entries in the country have helped domestic startups gain a strong foothold.