With a population exceeding 1.47 billion inhabitants, India is the most populated country on the planet. It is a nation in growth (in many areas) and one that has just concluded an ambitious trade agreement with the European Union, thus becoming an even more attractive market for many companies from our country. Nonetheless, it is a complex market, where geographic and cultural distance, together with legislative barriers, initially make international expansion there appear to be an overly cumbersome process.
The truth is that the Asian nation has proven to be a point of interest for many eCommerce businesses where, despite certain legal challenges faced by platforms such as Amazon or Walmart, they have managed to develop and establish themselves in a market where strong local alternatives like Flipkart flourish. Others, such as Alibaba, have not been as fortunate, affected by restrictions and the block implemented in 2020 by the Indian government against major Chinese social networks and eCommerce companies.
Taking this into account, I believe the time has come to comprehensively review the digital market and eCommerce landscape in India. Will you join me?
As previously mentioned, India is an immense country, both in geography and population. Mumbai is one of its most populous and important cities owing to its dominant role in foreign trade as the country’s primary port. For its part, New Delhi, its capital, is also regarded as another of the country’s most valuable cities, serving as its nerve center.
The population maintains an average age of 28 years. This remarkably young population, which is growing at an astonishing annual rate of 1%, might seem perfectly suited to foster electronic consumption habits. However, as we shall examine later, the country suffers from certain structural limitations which hinder its undeniable potential.
For example, its significant inequalities. Let us consider a few key data points:
According to the “How India Shops Online 2025” report, prepared by Bain & Company in collaboration with Flipkart, the country reached 270 million online shoppers in 2024, surpassing the United States and positioning itself as the second largest digital consumer base in the world, second only to China. This growth is even more significant when one considers that in 2020, the figure stood at 140 million.
Although market growth experienced a slight slowdown in 2024, the long-term outlook remains highly optimistic. It is projected that the market’s value, measured by gross merchandise value (GMV), will increase from the current $60 billion to an estimated between $170 billion and $190 billion by the year 2030.
A key driver of this expansion is the democratization of access. Since 2020, over 60% of new shoppers have come from Tier-2 cities or smaller localities, breaking the historical dependence on major metropolises such as Delhi or Mumbai. Additionally, high-frequency categories such as groceries, fashion, and home goods are leading the way in terms of penetration in these new markets.
The report also highlights the emergence of disruptive models and generational changes. Generation Z already accounts for nearly 40% of online shoppers, demonstrating different habits: they are more experimental, predominantly discover brands via social media, and favor digital payment methods such as UPI, a new system that operates using a virtual payment address, which is typically as simple as your-name@bank or your phone number (similar to Bizum in Spain). It can be used to pay in both online and physical stores by simply scanning a QR code or entering your ID and authorizing the transaction with a PIN on your mobile device.
This method has enabled 60% of new shoppers from smaller cities to join the digital marketplace. Previously, these individuals relied on cash-on-delivery, which is expensive and logistically challenging. With UPI, payment is secure, digital, and occurs prior to delivery, reducing costs for companies such as Flipkart or Amazon. In fact, the system has proven so successful that India is exporting the technology to other countries (such as France, the United Arab Emirates, or Singapore) so that Indian tourists can make payments there using their Indian apps.
Moreover, the rise of “Quick Commerce” (deliveries within minutes) is transforming the expectations of Indian consumers, thereby consolidating an increasingly dynamic and competitive ecosystem.
All right, now that we have the context, who are the main players in Indian eCommerce? According to Semrush data for December 2025, the top five are as follows:
In addition to these, other major names in Indian eCommerce, as ranked by Semrush, include Ajio and Jiomart.
Which, admittedly, may not mean much to you 😉
Try Semrush
You are already familiar with Amazon, so we shall not go into detail. Operating a business model similar to that of Jeff Bezos’s company, Flipkart has for years been one of the strongest competitors in the Indian market.
Flipkart was established in 2007, when Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, two students from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, decided to leave Amazon, where they were employed, to start their own venture focused on selling a single product. This involved selling the book “Leaving Microsoft to Save the World”. Sales skyrocketed, and this served as the springboard for what would become Flipkart. In 2018, it was acquired by the American giant Walmart in a transaction valued at more than $13 billion.
Home view of Flipkart
The keys to Flipkart’s success in Indian eCommerce lie in its rapid deliveries (less than 24 hours in 50 Indian cities), affordable and straightforward products suitable to the Indian economy, around-the-clock customer service, and more. For instance, the first batch of Xiaomi mobile phones was distributed exclusively through Flipkart, selling out in just 9 seconds.
Indiamart is the most established of all: it is a B2B eCommerce platform founded in 1996 with the vision of connecting manufacturers and suppliers with business buyers via a marketplace. It is the largest B2B marketplace in the country, boasting an enormous base of buyers and sellers and a value proposition centered on helping businesses generate leads and manage commercial contacts efficiently. It also serves as a massive hub for industrial and commercial services.
Meesho, for its part, is a marketplace founded in 2015. Its main differentiation from traditional platforms is its model of social and low-cost commerce: it targets reseller communities (many of whom are microentrepreneurs and women) in smaller towns and rural areas, and has promoted a zero-commission model for sellers.
Unlike the previously mentioned platforms, Myntra is focused on fashion and lifestyle. It was founded in 2007 in Bengaluru. Initially selling personalized gifts, it quickly pivoted towards the online sale of clothing, footwear, and accessories from multiple brands. Interestingly, in 2014, it was acquired by Flipkart. Myntra features a catalog of both national and international brands, a significant emphasis on user experience (including personalization through technology and fast delivery services), and a model oriented toward fashion trends and events, setting it apart from generalist marketplaces.
Home view of Myntra
Ajio is also a competitor in the fashion and lifestyle segment. It was launched in April 2016 as a digital initiative targeting the clothing, footwear, accessories, and lifestyle products market, featuring its own collections as well as those of other national and international brands, including premium segments with Ajio Luxe. The platform delivers an experience focused more on style discovery than on the sheer breadth of generalist categories, leveraging synergies with the extensive retail and digital infrastructure of the Reliance group, to which it belongs.
JioMart is the eCommerce platform of Reliance Retail, the largest retail group in India and part of the conglomerate controlled by Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in the country. It was originally established as an online grocery and essentials shopping service but has since evolved into a multi-category marketplace that also includes electronics, fashion, and household goods. Its main distinction from Amazon or Flipkart is its hybrid model, which integrates online sales with an extensive network of physical stores and local businesses, thereby enabling it to operate on a large scale and to compete directly with the major eCommerce giants in the Indian market.
In recent years, the digital payments ecosystem in India has undergone a profound transformation, led by UPI (Unified Payments Interface) as mentioned earlier. UPI is now firmly established as the absolute standard owing to its ability to transfer funds in real time between banks both free of charge and with ease.
In the card sector, the domestic RuPay system has managed to challenge the dominance of international giants such as Visa and Mastercard, emerging as the cornerstone of financial inclusion and even expanding into credit linked to QR codes.
Despite this technological advancement, cash-on-delivery continues to play a crucial role in the country’s economy, particularly outside the large metropolises, as it acts as the trustworthy bridge needed by consumers who still distrust digital transactions or reside in rural areas. For higher-value purchases, options such as installment payment plans remain among the most preferred tools, allowing consumers to finance durable goods through major marketplaces like Amazon India or Flipkart.
Finally, just as Europe is working on the digital euro, India is developing the digital rupee. Although the digital rupee is already available, it is still in the rollout phase, with specific functionalities such as offline and scheduled payments in the process of development. The idea is to complement UPI in the near future.
Image: Gemini
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