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India's ecommerce market is projected to reach $250 billion by 2030, powered by over 900 million internet users and a rapidly growing D2C culture. Starting an e-commerce business in this market means entering the world's second-largest digital commerce opportunity. The infrastructure for payments, logistics and digital marketing has matured enough to support new brands from day one.

Most first-time founders get stuck searching for an answer to the critical question, ‘How to start an e-commerce business?’ They end up spending months on website design and brand identity before addressing the fundamentals. Niche selection, legal compliance, checkout conversion and post-purchase retention deserve attention before anything else. Getting these right early separates brands that scale from those that stall after launch.

This guide to starting an ecommerce business covers every step in the right order, from business idea to live ecommerce store. It shows you how to start an ecommerce business in India with a clear focus on conversion from the first order. It also covers how GoKwik helps new D2C brands convert traffic into completed orders at scale.

What Is an Ecommerce Business?

An ecommerce business sells products or services online through digital channels like websites, mobile apps or online marketplace platforms. It removes the need for a physical storefront and gives brands access to customers across the country from a single ecommerce website.

Benefits of Starting an Ecommerce Business in India

Once you can learn how to start an e-commerce business in India, you can enjoy significant benefits like:

Starting an online store requires lower capital than opening a physical retail location or mortar stores in any Indian city.
Your ecommerce store can reach over a billion internet users across India without geographic limitations on your customer base.
A well-built ecommerce website operates around the clock, accepting orders and processing payments while your team sleeps.
Tools like Google Analytics and platform dashboards give you real-time data to optimize conversion and improve customer experience daily.
India's logistics and payment infrastructure now supports small business sellers with affordable shipping and fast settlement options.

Types of Ecommerce Businesses

The business models below represent the four most common structures for how to start an e-commerce business in India:

B2C (Business-to-Consumer): B2C brands sell finished products directly to individual customers through their own website or third-party marketplaces. Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra operate as B2C marketplaces, while standalone brand websites represent the D2C subset of this model.
B2B (Business-to-Business): B2B ecommerce brands sell products or services to other businesses in bulk or through subscription contracts. IndiaMART and Udaan are strong Indian examples of B2B platforms connecting manufacturers with retailers and resellers.
C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer): C2C platforms facilitate peer-to-peer transactions where individual sellers list products for other individual buyers to purchase. OLX, Quikr and Meesho's reseller model operate in this space across India.
D2C (Direct-to-Consumer): D2C brands own the product, control the customer experience and build long-term margin by selling directly to potential customers without intermediaries. Mamaearth, boAt, and Sugar Cosmetics are Indian D2C brands that have successfully scaled this model.

Step 1: Choose Your Niche and Validate the Demand

The first step in understanding how to start an e-commerce business is choosing a product category with real demand. A strong business idea solves a clear problem for a specific target audience.

Start with market research before ordering stock or hiring a designer. Study Google Trends, Amazon, Flipkart, Instagram comments, Reddit discussions, and keyword tools to understand what people search for and buy.

Next, define your target market in plain language. Instead of selling fitness products to everyone, you might serve working women seeking quick home workout accessories priced under ₹2,000.

Then test your product idea with small batches, landing pages, polls, or pre-launch waitlists. These checks help you find the right customers before you commit money to large inventory.

Strong validation also protects your profit margins. When you know demand, pricing, objections, and competitor gaps, you can write a sharper business plan and choose the next step with confidence.

Step 2: Choose Your Ecommerce Business Model

The model you choose determines your inventory risk, profit margins and operational complexity from day one of your new business launch.

D2C (Direct-to-Consumer): Under this model, you own the brand, manufacture or source the product, and sell directly to customers through an ecommerce business website. This model offers the highest margin and full control over brand identity, pricing and the customer experience at every stage of the purchase journey.
Dropshipping: Here, you list products from a supplier and forward orders for direct shipment to the buyer without holding any inventory yourself. Dropshipping business models carry zero inventory risk and lower margins, with higher RTO exposure in India's COD-heavy market.
Marketplace Selling: List your own products or sourced products on marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart or Meesho to access their built-in traffic and customer base. This model offers faster sales velocity at lower margins, reduced brand identity control and dependence on platform algorithms for visibility.
Private Label: The private label model lets you source generic products from manufacturers, apply your brand identity and sell them under your own brand name online. It combines the margin advantage of D2C with faster product launch cycles since you skip the product development stage entirely.

Step 3: Register Your Business and Get Compliant

Legal registration is mandatory before you accept payments or list on any major platform. This step protects your business name and ensures you can operate without compliance issues.

Business Structure: Choose between a sole proprietorship for a simple low-cost setup, a Private Limited Company for brands planning to raise funding and scale, or an LLP structure for co-founders who want shared liability protection. Your legal structure determines tax treatment and your ability to raise external capital later.
GST Registration: GST registration is mandatory for all ecommerce sellers on platforms regardless of turnover under Section 24 of the CGST Act. The threshold exemption of ₹40 lakhs applies only to intra-state goods sellers who do not use ecommerce platforms for distribution.
Trademark Registration: Register your business name and logo under the appropriate trademark class at ipindia.gov.in to prevent misuse by competitors. Trademark protection becomes critical once your brand identity gains recognition and competitors attempt to use similar names in the same category.
Bank Account: Open a current account in the business name before applying for a payment gateway or listing on any marketplace. Payment gateways and platforms require a registered business bank account.
Shop and Establishment License: This license is required if you have an office, warehouse or employees operating under your ecommerce business. Apply through the local municipal authority in your city and ensure compliance with state-specific labor regulations from the start.

Step 4: Source Your Products and Set Up Inventory

Product sourcing shapes product quality, delivery experience, repeat purchases, and early customer trust. Even a strong marketing strategy can struggle if shoppers receive products that feel different from what your store promised.

Start by shortlisting suppliers through IndiaMart, TradeIndia, factory visits, referrals, or local manufacturing clusters. Ask for samples, packaging photos, dispatch timelines, return terms, and written pricing before placing your first order.

Once you receive the samples, compare their quality before negotiating the price. Check durability, finishing, packaging strength, delivery condition, and customer fit, because these details influence reviews, returns, and future reorder decisions.

Keep your first purchase conservative so you can test demand without locking too much money in stock. Smaller batches help you study new products, manage shipping costs, and reduce dead stock risk. Set up basic inventory management from day one to track opening stock, reorder levels, damaged units, dispatch status, and slow-moving SKUs.

Step 5: Build Your Online Store

Your store turns visitors into buyers, so website design, speed, content, and trust signals matter from the first launch.

This is also where keyword research and content marketing enter the picture. A good blog strategy can help your ecommerce website attract buyers who are still comparing options.

For a comprehensive checklist, refer to our guide on how to set up your Shopify store before launch.

Store Element	What You Need	Why It Matters
Platform selection	Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, or custom build	Choose based on budget, speed, integrations, and growth plans.
Domain setup	A clean domain name linked to your brand	A simple domain improves recall, trust, and search visibility.
Must-have pages	Homepage, product pages, About, policy pages	These pages answer questions before shoppers reach checkout.
Product content	Clear product descriptions, images, and size details	Better content reduces confusion, returns, and support requests.
Mobile experience	Fast pages and thumb-friendly navigation	Most Indian shoppers browse and buy through mobile devices.
Conversion tools	Reviews, FAQs, offers, and trust badges	These elements help new customers feel safer before purchase.
Search visibility	search engine optimization basics on every page	SEO helps search engines understand your products and categories.

Step 6: Set Up Payments and Checkout

Payment setup determines whether a high-intent shopper completes the order at checkout. This stage matters when learning how to start an e-commerce business because payment friction can turn ready buyers into abandoned carts within a few short seconds.

Start by comparing payment gateways by payment methods, MDR, settlement time, COD support, dispute handling, refunds, and platform fit. Providers like Razorpay, PayU, CCAvenue and Cashfree can work, depending on expected order volume, settlement needs and cash flow priorities.

Once gateways are shortlisted, plan COD with clear risk controls. COD can increase order volume in India, although it can raise RTO risk and delay cash flow. Create rules for risky pincodes, repeat cancellers and suspicious high-value COD orders.

After payment options are ready, simplify the checkout journey. Kwik Checkout reduces friction through pre-filled address data from the GoKwik network, one-tap SSO login via Kwik Pass, COD-to-prepaid nudges and real-time RTO intelligence. This helps brands achieve conversion rates above the Indian ecommerce average.

Step 7: Set Up Logistics and Shipping

Order fulfillment is where new brands lose the most customers and the most money. Getting logistics right from launch protects your customer experience and profit margins.

Compare Courier Options: Evaluate Shiprocket, Delhivery, Ecom Express and DTDC for coverage, reliability, per-order pricing and integration with your ecommerce platform. Choose a logistics partner whose serviceable pincode coverage matches your target audience geography.
Set Shipping Zones and Costs: Define serviceable pincodes, delivery timelines and zone-wise shipping costs before launch to set buyer expectations accurately. Transparent shipping information on product pages and the cart page reduces surprise-driven cart abandonment at checkout.
Protect Average Order Value: Use free shipping thresholds that encourage larger carts without hurting margins on small orders. A threshold set 20% above your current AOV lifts order value while keeping the free shipping offer accessible to most buyers.
Improve Packaging Quality: Use secure packaging to reduce product damage, returns and negative delivery experiences that erode customer base trust. Good packaging is a brand touchpoint that influences whether a first-time buyer returns for a second order.
Manage Failed Deliveries Quickly: Act on NDR (Non-Delivery Report) updates within hours before failed delivery attempts convert into permanent RTOs. Delayed reattempt instructions push RTO rates higher and every undelivered order represents double the logistics cost with zero revenue recovered.

Step 8: Launch Your Marketing Channels

Traffic does not arrive automatically after your ecommerce store goes live. You need a marketing strategy that matches your audience and product category.

Once traffic starts coming in, the next challenge is follow-up. Many shoppers browse, add products to the cart, or choose COD before dropping off. A manual team cannot track every intent signal in real time, which is why automated WhatsApp journeys become useful early.

Kwik Engage automates WhatsApp cart recovery, COD verification, post-purchase re-engagement and broadcast campaigns from a single platform. New brands using Kwik Engage recover abandoned sessions through automated WhatsApp flows that require zero manual effort and report 134% improvement in cart recovery rates.

Channel	What It Does	Best Use Case	Timeline to Results
Google Ads and Shopping	Captures high-intent search traffic from people ready to buy.	Best suited for launch campaigns where fast traffic and purchase intent matter.	Immediate
Social media marketing on Meta and Instagram	Drives product discovery, awareness, and retargeting across social media platforms.	Works well for visual categories like fashion, beauty, lifestyle, home, and gifting.	2 to 4 weeks
Search engine optimization	Builds organic traffic through keyword research, technical fixes, and page optimization.	Useful when you want category pages and product pages to attract search-led buyers.	3 to 6 months
Email marketing	Nurtures leads, brings shoppers back, and drives repeat purchases from your customer base.	Strong for welcome flows, product education, offers, replenishment reminders, and loyalty campaigns.	2 to 4 weeks
Content marketing and blogs	Supports search engine optimization and builds authority through helpful content.	Helps answer buyer questions before purchase and brings traffic from search engines.	3 to 6 months
WhatsApp marketing	Recovers carts, verifies COD orders, and supports post-purchase engagement.	A practical choice for cart recovery, COD confirmation, delivery updates, and repeat purchase nudges.	Immediate
Influencer and UGC partnerships	Builds trust through real-use content created for social media platforms.	Fits products that need visual proof, customer stories, creator demos, and social validation.	2 to 6 weeks

Step 9: Manage Returns and Build Repeat Purchase Rate

Returns management and repeat purchases decide whether your ecommerce business stays profitable after the first order. In categories like fashion and beauty, return rates can be high, so this stage directly affects cash flow, margins, and customer trust.

Start with a clear returns policy that explains timelines, conditions, refund rules, and exchange options before customers place orders. When shoppers know what to expect, your ecommerce website builds trust and reduces avoidable customer support queries.

Then make returns easier to manage with self-service return portals. Track return reasons across size issues, quality concerns, product mismatch, and description gaps. These insights help you improve product descriptions, sizing guides, images, and SKU-level decisions.

Promote exchanges and store credit before cash refunds to retain revenue inside your ecommerce store. Loyalty programs and WhatsApp-led second-order offers can convert one-time buyers into repeat customers. This is where Return Prime adds value by helping convert unavoidable returns into exchanges and store credit, while GoKwik Cart surfaces upsells and prepaid incentives inside the cart view to increase AOV from every session.

How Much Does It Cost to Start an Ecommerce Business in India?

Here is a realistic cost breakdown across key spend categories to help plan your budget before learning how to start an e-commerce business in India with the right allocation:

Most D2C brands take 6 to 12 months to break even and 12 to 24 months to reach consistent profitability. Cash flow management during this period determines whether the brand survives or stalls. This is why understanding total startup cost is one of the most important steps to start a business in the Indian ecommerce sector.

Expense	Estimated Cost	Notes
Business registration and GST	₹5,000 to ₹15,000	Includes GST, licenses and trademark filing
Ecommerce platform	₹800 to ₹4,000 per month	Shopify, WooCommerce hosting or custom
Domain name and hosting	₹500 to ₹3,000 per year	.in or .com domain with hosting
Product inventory	₹10,000 to ₹2,00,000	Varies by model and category
Payment gateway	2% to 3% MDR per transaction	Plus applicable setup fees
Logistics and shipping	Variable per order	Based on weight, zone and courier partner
Initial marketing campaigns	₹10,000 to ₹50,000	First month of paid acquisition
Product photography	₹5,000 to ₹20,000	Quality images for product pages

Common Challenges When Starting an Ecommerce Business and How to Solve Them

Most founders face similar growth leaks after launch. Fixing them early protects cash flow, conversion, and ecommerce sales.

Cart abandonment rates in Indian ecommerce range between 65% and 80%, meaning most acquired traffic leaves without completing payment.
RTO losses from unverified COD orders erode profit margins before the brand recovers the product and restocks inventory.
Cash flow delays from COD settlement timelines create working capital pressure during the critical early months of growth.
Low repeat purchase rate from first-time buyers forces brands into a cycle of constantly paying for new customers through paid channels.
Rising customer acquisition costs on Google Ads, Meta and Instagram compress the return on every paid click your marketing strategy generates.

How GoKwik Helps New D2C Brands Launch and Scale Faster

Getting your ecommerce store live is one challenge. Converting visitors into paying customers, reducing return losses and building repeat purchase behavior requires infrastructure that most online retailers do not have at launch.

GoKwik's connected product suite addresses every stage of the post-launch growth journey for brands learning how to start an e-commerce business that scales profitably.

Kwik Checkout for Checkout Conversion and RTO Control: Returning shoppers can complete purchases faster with pre-filled address details and a shorter checkout flow across the GoKwik network. Kwik Checkout uses real-time RTO intelligence to assess COD risk and show COD-to-prepaid nudges before payment.
Kwik Pass for Frictionless Login: Account creation often slows down shoppers during repeat visits. With Kwik Pass, buyers can log in through one-tap SSO using their mobile number or Truecaller, which helps new brands reduce drop-offs and build stronger repeat purchase behavior.
Kwik Engage for WhatsApp Marketing and Cart Recovery: Abandoned carts, COD confirmations, post-purchase flows and broadcast campaigns can be automated from one platform. This helps new D2C brands recover missed sessions through WhatsApp journeys without adding manual work for the team.
GoKwik Cart for Higher Average Order Value: The cart view becomes a revenue opportunity before the shopper reaches checkout. GoKwik Cart shows upsells, bundle suggestions, prepaid incentives and other purchase nudges that help brands increase AOV from existing traffic.
Return Prime for Returns Management: Refunds can drain revenue when every return becomes a cash exit. Return Prime helps brands convert unavoidable returns into exchanges or store credit, which keeps more revenue inside the brand ecosystem.

Book a demo with GoKwik today and see how the full product suite helps your new business convert from the very first month.

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AUTHOR

Vardhan Jain

Director of Product Program @ GoKwik

AUTHOR

Vardhan Jain

Director of Product Program @ GoKwik

Vardhan leads product and growth initiatives at GoKwik, driving D2C e-commerce innovations, conversion optimization, and scalable growth programs for products. An ISB alumnus based in Bengaluru, he brings expertise from Unacademy, Ola, and Mahindra in building high-impact product strategies.

How to Start an E-Commerce Business in India: A Step-by-Step Guide

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Read this blog on your favourite platform

What Is an Ecommerce Business?

Benefits of Starting an Ecommerce Business in India

Types of Ecommerce Businesses

Step 1: Choose Your Niche and Validate the Demand

Step 2: Choose Your Ecommerce Business Model

Step 3: Register Your Business and Get Compliant

Step 4: Source Your Products and Set Up Inventory

Step 5: Build Your Online Store

Step 6: Set Up Payments and Checkout

Step 7: Set Up Logistics and Shipping

Step 8: Launch Your Marketing Channels

Step 9: Manage Returns and Build Repeat Purchase Rate

How Much Does It Cost to Start an Ecommerce Business in India?

Common Challenges When Starting an Ecommerce Business and How to Solve Them

How GoKwik Helps New D2C Brands Launch and Scale Faster

Frequently Asked Questions

Vardhan Jain

Vardhan Jain