How online marketplaces are changing the lives of thousands of merchants

From garages in Mumbai to sari shops in Varanasi, thousands of manufacturers and traders are today tapping a rapidly growing online retail market in India thanks to marketplaces like Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon. 

The ability to reach out to a nationwide market and lower costs are ensuring a sharp increase in sales for the over 80,000 merchants who sell just on these portals. A survey conducted by research firm Spire Research and Consulting this year showed that for offline retailers selling online, the latter is contributing up to 50% of overall sales Financial Astrology Trading Tips

Next year the online retail market is expected to reach $6 billion (over Rs 37,000 crore) in size. The online multi-category stores are responsible for almost 90% of the sales online, according to industry estimates, which means a bulk of this $6 billion will flow into bank accounts of merchants. No wonder then that online retail is changing the lives of thousands of merchants. 

"Five years ago I did not have a job, now my apparel business has grown 15-fold and I am targeting over Rs 1 crore in sales," said Mumbai-based Saumya Gupta, 26, whose apparel brand Ten On Ten sells only through online sites like Flipkart and Snapdeal. There are challenges of course. Inability to increase production capacity at the same pace as demand, issue of returns, and lack of infrastructure are just some of the worries that are tempering merchants' optimism about the sector Intraday Trading Tips

"There are now thousands of sellers in each category, so competition is growing," said Karan Chugh, owner of ethnic wear retail firm Florence Clothing from Surat. But for merchants, like the following six, online retail has meant success and a growth in ambition. 

Rahul Agrawal did not want to run his family business of distributing Banarasi saris and dress materials the traditional way. After graduating from IIT-Mumbai in 2009, Agrawal worked for a financial research firm in Delhi and then started an online games retailer in 2012. Running the games business helped him realise the potential of India's online retail market. 

"With the games site, we faced challenges of procurement, but our sari business already had a strong procurement network," said Agrawal. He gave up his stake in the games business and moved back to Varanasi in 2013 to run the three-decade-old Chandrakala Enterprises. In September that year, he started selling his Banarasi saris on sites like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal Commodity Trading Tips

"Online is now contributing to about 25% of our business and could overtake our offline trade within the next two years," said Agrawal, 29. While issues like the inability of weavers to expand production rapidly remain, Agrawal is happy with his decision. 

"I would have had to eventually take over the family business but thanks to online retail I am having fun," said Agrawal, who is targeting sales of at least Rs 16 crore this fiscal from online sales. 

Yogesh Wadhwa's eight-year-old business of manufacturing laptop bags for original equipment manufacturers ran into rough weather about two years ago when companies like Samsung and Sony decided to stop making laptops. Wadhwa decided to launch his own brand of bags and luggage, Bleu Personal Numerology Trading Tips

"The conventional route would have required a lot of investments, so we thought of going online," said Wadhwa, 43, who started retailing on Amazon about 10 months back. "We put up 10 designs one day and by next morning it was sold out. We realised we had a winner." 

Around the time of launching on Amazon, he sold about 1,000 pieces of a toiletry kit on Groupon in one day. "I realised, apart from low prices, customers are attracted to products that are not easily available offline," said Wadhwa. 

DMP sells about 150 products on regular days across most major online portals and is targeting about Rs 4 crore online sales this fiscal. "If I had to do this offline I would not have been able to do that without a heavier infusion of capital," said Wadhwa. "We are a totally debt-free company." 

Karan Chugh's family has been running an apparel manufacturing and wholesale business, Majestic Silk, in Surat since 1960 and the family diversified into retail in 2007 Intraday Trading Tips

It was when Chugh, 25, started shopping online that he decided to retail the mass market Florence brand of saris and dress materials online. 

"The idea was to explore," recalled Chugh, who started with Snapdeal in 2012 and now sells on most top marketplaces. In the first month, Florence sold Rs 5 lakh worth of products, but Chugh could see the steady ramp up in orders. 

Within a few months, Chugh started Silk Bazaar, a more premium range priced up to Rs 30,000, just for the online market. With online retail accounting for over 70% of the company's overall sales, he has cut back offline operations from 30 stores to five. He also operates shop-in-shops in Vishal Megamart and at More. 

"The biggest advantage of online is the pan-India presence it provides at low cost," said Chugh, who is targeting overall retail sales of about Rs 16 crore this fiscal. The manufacturing and wholesale firm has a turnover of Rs 100 crore. "For me it was never about money," said Chugh. "But online retail helped me achieve success on my own and that was important for me Stock Market Trading Tips