India is known for its large population. At 1.37 billion, it’s one of the most inhabited places in the world, second only to China. Still, of its billion-plus people, internet penetration is quite low, coming in at 41 percent of the total population, roughly 500 million of the 1.37 billion in the country.
Despite the low internet penetration, the e-commerce sector in India is still massive, thanks to the overall population size. It was worth US$ 48.5billion as of 2018 and is expected to quadruple to reach US$ 200 billion by 2026.
It’s also worth noting that internet and smartphone adoption in India is growing rapidly. This adoption of smartphones also shows trends toward mobile commerce as a preference for the vast number of Indians who own a smartphone.
Top 10 Indian Ecommerce Sites
What’s interesting about the top 10 in the Indian e-commerce sector is the rich representation of Indian-founded brands. While Amazon comes in at the top, there are very few other American brands in these high ranks. It is Indian and Asian brands that dominate in the top 10.
Additionally, the Indian e-commerce scene has a nice mix between pure e-commerce players and brick, and mortar retailers turned e-commerce giants.
While the Indian e-commerce sector is still in early development stages, it is a market rich with opportunity; with so many people comes so much room for major players and small players alike to take a giant chunk out of the Indian e-commerce pie.
So far, it’s electronics that make up the most significant online retail sales category in the country, at 48 percent, but apparel is following not too far behind at 29 percent.
To demonstrate what the e-commerce sector in India looks like, we’ve compiled the top 10 performing e-commerce sites using data from SimilarWeb.
1. Amazon India
Estimated number of monthly visitors: 322.54 million
American e-commerce giant, Amazon, is said to have an audience reach of 89 percent in India, according to Statista. Since launching in India in 2010, the site now generates an estimated 322.54 million monthly visitors, making it the highest performing site in the country, by a long shot.
True to the overall statistics that the primary e-commerce category in India is electronics, the audience interests in Amazon lean toward this category. However, they also provide a range of other products in categories including Echo and Alexa, Amazon Prime digital media, men’s fashion, women’s fashion, home, grocery, sports, automotive, and more.
2. Flipkart
Estimated number of monthly visitors: 242.62 million
While it may be 100 million monthly visitors behind Amazon, Flipkart is an Indian e-commerce success story, putting up fierce competition against the international heavyweights. Founded in 2007 in India, Flipkart is a purely online variety store that, in 2018, sold 77 percent of itself to Walmart for USD$ 16 billion.
Following the same trends as Amazon, Flipkart is most popular amongst its customers for goods in the electronics category. However, it also stocks a wide variety of products, including TVs and appliances, fashion, furniture, sports, books, and more.
3. Alibaba
Estimated number of monthly visitors: 175.95 million globally (4.19 percent in India)
Alibaba is an internationally recognized major player in the e-commerce market, founded in China in 1999. Owned by Alibaba Group Holding, a massive multinational conglomerate holding company that specializes in all things online from e-commerce to online retail, Internet, and technology, Alibaba is a force in the international e-commerce space.
Beat out significantly by its Indian competitor, Flipkart, Alibaba has a similar offering with product categories including home and kitchen, tools and hardware, rubber and plastics, electrical equipment and supplies, vehicles and accessories, toys and hobbies, consumer electronics, apparel, and more.
4. Snapdeal
Estimated number of monthly visitors: 56.41 million
Another Indian-founded e-commerce giant, Snapdeal is an online variety shopping platform that has garnered much attention from customers and investors alike. Since launching in 2010, Snapdeal has attracted funding from big-name investors Alibaba Group, Softbank, and Foxconn.
While the largest category shopped from Snapdeal is electronics, the online store also offers other product categories, including home and kitchen, fashion, toys, beauty, health, books, and more.
5. Myntra
Estimated number of monthly visitors: 48.03 million
Myntra is a pure-play e-commerce site launched out of India in 2007, which has since gone on to become one of the premier fashion, home, and lifestyle e-commerce sites in the country. It’s 2014 sale to Flipkart, in addition to the acquisition of competitor Jabong.com has helped it to grow even further.
As a fashion retailer, Myntra stocks a range of goods from a wide variety of international and local brands, covering menswear, womenswear, kidswear, and home.
6. IndiaMART
Estimated number of monthly visitors: 47.23 million
IndiaMART is the largest online business-to-business marketplace in the country, founded in 1999 to connect buyers with suppliers. Today, IndiaMART has around 60 percent market share of the online B2B classifieds sector in India.
IndiaMART connects manufacturers, suppliers, and exporters, allowing them to promote and expose their products to one another via the platform. Covering just about anything you can possibly imagine, IndiaMART has categories including building and construction, industrial machinery, apparel, electronics, and even chemical, dyes, and solvents, to name just a few.
7. Book My Show
Estimated number of monthly visitors: 43.25 million
BookMyShow India is the number one online ticket vendor in India. Since opening its doors in 2007, it has grown to provide ticketing services in five countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and Indonesia.
Covering movies, events, plays, sports, activities, and tickets to monuments, as well as selling fan merchandise, BookMyShow is India’s one-stop-show to book entertainment and look for fan goods. Its major investor is the internationally renowned, TPG Growth.
8. Nykaa
Estimated number of monthly visitors: 20.84 million
Nykaa is another Indian founded brand which bucked the norm beginning as a pure e-commerce platform and then expanding to open a brick and mortar location in the Indira Gandhi International Airport in 2015.
Founded in 2012, Nykaa started as an online store selling beauty items in categories including makeup, skin, hair, appliances, personal care, fragrance, and LUXE. In more recent years, the brand has expanded its range, bringing on more brands as well as introducing its very own cosmetics and beauty line.
9. First Cry
Estimated number of monthly visitors: 16.94 million
Founded in 2010, firstcry.com is a pure e-commerce platform that specializes in goods for babies and children up to early teens. Owned by the Mahindra Venture, firstcry.com is the biggest children’s goods e-commerce site in Asia and now has brick and mortar stores across the country.
Anything one could imagine needing for their little ones can be found on the platform. Its categories include apparel, toys, books, feeding and nursing items, as well as mom and maternity products.
10. 1mg
Estimated number of monthly visitors: 14.62 million
1mg is an Indian online pharmacy making healthcare accessible, understandable, and affordable for its customers. Not only is the site a platform to purchase medicine and other healthcare products, but it acts as a portal to find information about the medication doctors prescribe them in order to better understand what they are taking.
Founded in 2015, 1mg provides services including online consultations, lab tests, and medical information, as well as products including fitness and nutrition products and supplements, healthcare devices, personal care, Ayurveda products, and homeopathy items.