10 Best Ecommerce Platforms in India

If you are also an Indian business planning to venture online, choosing the best ecommerce platform in India should be the top item on your priority list. In a market as huge, diverse and rapidly evolving as India, the ecommerce solution powering your brand can be the catalyst for your success or failure.

To build an online store that aligns with your brand goals, customers’ requirements and dynamically changing Indian market you need the top ecommerce platform that gives you the flexibility and creative control to play around. 

By choosing a turnkey ecommerce platform in India you give your business the agility and flexibility to go to market quickly and make the best of the astronomical boom in the ecommerce industry in India.

Want to know how your business can be positioned for an unprecedented growth trajectory? Let us start by understanding the ecommerce market in India first.

Ecommerce in India 2024 and Beyond

India is projected to have an ecommerce market size worth $100 billion by 2024 and is expected to reach $350 billion by 2030. Along with smartphone and internet penetration, the availability of feature-rich, turnkey ecommerce platforms in India has also contributed to the hockey-stick growth of the eCommerce industry.

If you are planning to build an online store for your enterprise this is the most opportune time to do so as the future of ecommerce in India is going to be even more exciting. Here are some stats to help you see the future in a snapshot:

• 73.7% will be ecommerce user penetration in India by 2027
• 109 crore ecommerce buyers in India by 2027
• 2nd largest ecommerce buyer base globally 
• 14.11% is the expected CAGR of ecommerce in India between 2023-2027
• ~100% PIN codes in India have been serviced by ecommerce brands 
• 88% of new online shoppers in India will come from Tier 2+ cities by 2030

Source: Invest India, Statista

The road ahead for enterprise brands is clear. If you want to rake in the moolah, you need to take the ecommerce route. And to begin your journey on a solid footing, you need the best ecommerce platform in India. 

But the question is how to find out the best one for your business. To understand this let us first understand what is an ecommerce platform and the types of ecommerce platforms in India.

What is an ecommerce platform?

An ecommerce platform is a software solution that enables brands to build their ecommerce store, display their products and sell online. While a cart functionality and some product and order management features are must for any ecommerce platform the best ecommerce platforms come with a host of other features like:

• User-friendly interface to ensure seamless buying on all devices
• Ease of use so admin and other teams can run the business smoothly
• M-commerce ready solutions so businesses can leverage mobile commerce
• Flexibility to implement unique changes required for the brand 
• Scalability to accommodate the growing business needs and size
• Robust product and order management solutions for running the business in a hassle-free manner
• Seamless Integrations to integrate with additional software, services and tools
• Multiple payment gateways and solutions for frictionless checkouts
• SEO features along with marketing tools to build a brand and engage buyers
• Integrated logistics solutions for streamlined delivery

An ecommerce platform in India with all the above features offers a one stop solution freeing the business to focus on growth rather than worrying about finding the right solutions for running and growing the brand.

Types of Ecommerce Platforms in India

Ecommerce platforms can be classified into many different types based on the types of services offered, access to code and hosting. Here are the three types of most commonly used ecommerce platforms in India:

Open-Source Ecommerce Platforms

Open source ecommerce platforms are ecommerce solutions where the source code is accessible to all users and developers can modify the platform as they like.  These platforms have a strong community of developers and allow for extensive customization. Also, these platforms are free to use. In this kind of platform, business owners have to take care of hosting. This kind of platform is prone to security risks and can be buggy due to open-source code being accessible to all users.

Examples of open-source ecommerce platforms are- WooCommerce (for WordPress), Magento, and PrestaShop.

Hosted And Managed SaaS Ecommerce Platforms

Hosted and managed ecommerce solutions for Indian businesses are fully managed and hosted by the e-commerce solution provider. Also, these platforms offer Software as a Service based on a monthly or annual subscription basis. Because these platforms use cloud-based services they can be accessed from anywhere and are extremely scalable. The source code of these platforms may or may not be accessible to the owners depending upon the solution provider's subscription and license models.

Such ecommerce platforms are generally user-friendly, offer free hosting and have security features in place. Fully hosted and managed ecommerce platforms in India also offer support to help their merchant clients make the best use of the solutions offered for growing their respective businesses.

Examples include StoreHippo, Shopify, BigCommerce, and Wix.

On-Premise Ecommerce Platforms

On-premise ecommerce platforms are those ecommerce software solutions that require hosting and management on a company's own servers or data centers. While these types of ecommerce platforms in India provide complete control over the system they come with additional costs of setting up the infrastructure, updating and managing servers and running frequent checks to identify and isolate issues. 

Magento (Adobe Commerce) and WooCommerce offer on-premise ecommerce solutions.

Architecture of Ecommerce Platforms in India

Based on its architecture ecommerce platforms can be divided into further categories as below: 

Monolithic Architecture

Here the backend and the front end of the platform are tightly coupled which means any change to the backend will need a complete overhaul of the frontend and vice versa. The biggest drawback of monolithic architecture is that it makes customizations complex and time taking. 

Headless Architecture

Top ecommerce platforms in India use the decoupled headless architecture where the backend and frontend can be tweaked independently. Headless ecommerce solutions offer better flexibility and are best for creating tailored solutions for fast-growing enterprise brands. It is also easier to adapt to changing market dynamics quickly by leveraging the inherent features of headless solutions.

10 Best Ecommerce Platforms in India in 2024 

Now that we have understood the types of ecommerce platforms available for Indian businesses, let us evaluate the top 10 contenders based on their merits, features and drawbacks.

10 top-rated ecommerce platforms in India

While one ecommerce platform can be the ideal fit for your competitor, you need to evaluate all given options on your unique requirements, budget and future goals. So without much ado, let's dive in and evaluate the best ecommerce platforms in India:

StoreHippo Ecommerce Platform in India

StoreHippo is a homegrown ecommerce platform designed for businesses of every scale and size in India. The SaaS-based turnkey ecommerce platform offers fully hosted and managed ecommerce solutions which enable Indian businesses to build an online store, multivendor marketplace, multistore network and more. Enterprise brands can easily build tailored solutions for enterprise brands with out-of-box ideas using the StoreHippo ecommerce platform in India.

Brands also get the flexibility to use more than one business model from the same platform and a central control.

Built on cutting-edge next-generation technology, StoreHippo offers a low-code platform which speeds up the go-to-market time. Brands can also go omnichannel easily using the headless architecture which makes it easy to add new frontends using the same backend logic and APIs. StoreHippo is considered the best ecommerce platform in India by its users due to its ease of use, scalability and flexibility to build tailored solutions for brands across industry verticals. 

Pros

• Plug-and-play solution with 300+ built-in features
• Designed for B2B, B2C, B2B2C, D2C and any custom hybrid business model
• Pioneer m-commerce enabled ecommerce platform in India built on the mobile-first principle, with a built-in mobile apps builder, admin mobile app, vendor mobile app, delivery boy mobile app etc. Also, all stores can be turned into PWAs easily.
• Decoupled Headless architecture for immense flexibility and creative control
• MACH architecture gives scalability and flexibility to build tailored solutions and accommodate the growth of fast-growing businesses
• Rich themes library with drag-and-drop tools for customizations
• Built-in product, inventory and order management solutions
• Native solutions for multi vendor marketplace, Multistore®  ecommerce set up, hyperlocal ecommerce etc.
• Support for multiple languages to build an online store in Indian languages or create a multilingual international website 
• Multi-currency support with multi-currency invoicing feature
• Powerful tax engine with full GST support
• Built-in SEO and a wide range of marketing tools
• Built-in reporting engine for regular and custom reports
• 120+ pre-integrated solutions
• 60+ integrated payment gateways
• 30+ integrated shipping partners and real-time shipping calculation
• PCI-DSS-compliant ecommerce platform in India with free SSL and audit logs

Cons

• Many advanced features are available with Business and Enterprise plans only
• Storehippo clients have long been asking for integrated marketing services to best use the gamut of built-in marketing tools
• Does not have its own POS system

Pricing Plans

• Zero upfront cost onboarding through Mystore for the ONDC Network ( Brands and SMEs just need to pay per order-based commissions)
• Business Plan - Rs. 9000/month
• Enterprise Plan- Rs. 22500/month
• Enterprise Platinum- Rs. 90,000/month* (Custom Pricing for unique enterprise requirements)

Shopify Ecommerce Platform

Shopify is a well-known ecommerce website builder. Shopify offers Shopify for small and medium-sized businesses and Shopify Plus ecommerce platform in India for enterprise brands.  Shopify has an app-based platform where merchants can implement different business models using apps from independent third-party developers of the Shopify ecosystem.

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• Rich themes library with responsive themes
• Built-in hosting and SSL certificates
• Extensive apps library to implement different functionalities when you build an online store in India
• App-based solution for multivendor marketplace, multilingual, multi-currency payments etc
• Support for integrations 
• Secure payment processing with Shopify Payments
• Offers multilingual support with different apps
• SEO-friendly platform
• Suite of mobile tools to manage the business on the go

Cons

• Limited designs and customizations limit the types of design layouts you can implement
• Limited apps compared to other similar open-source ecommerce platforms in India that offer full customizations 
• Basic plan users get limited features
• Too much reliability on 3rd party apps for advanced functionalities
• Multiple apps and plugins for implementing advanced functionalities can make the ecommerce platform complex and cumbersome
• Costly monthly subscriptions due to plugins costs on top of subscription charges
• Expert Shopify developers are needed to understand, implement and sync various third-party apps and build top ecommerce platform for enterprise brands
• Transaction fees for non-Shopify payment gateways are high

Pricing Plans 

• 3-day free trial and INR 20/month for the first 3 months ( basic features only)
• Starter Plan - INR 399/ month
• Retail- INR 7000/month
• Shopify Plus enterprise solutions - INR 1,52,000/month for standard setups and integrations
• Variable fee structure for higher-volume businesses  

Adobe Commerce ( Formerly Magento) 

Magento or Adobe Commerce is a widely used ecommerce platform in India. It is an open-source platform that offers on-premise as well as cloud-based primarily for enterprise ecommerce businesses with complex requirements. Adobe Commerce comes with a vast library of extensions, powerful customization options and a strong developer community. 

Pros

• Possible to implement a high level of customization
• Large library of extensions and plugins
• Robust product catalog and inventory management solutions
• Support for B2C and B2B business models
• Scalable enterprise ecommerce solutions for brands 
• Responsive design to build an online store 
• Support for multi-store feature
• SEO-friendly ecommerce platform in India with advanced marketing and promotional tools
• Strong developer community

Cons

• Steeper learning curve
• Not suitable for beginners who have limited experience and tech knowledge
• Comparatively expensive to maintain
• Requires significant development and maintenance
• Expensive when compared to other similar ecommerce platforms in India
• Users have noticed the platform becomes buggy and slow as the business scales
• Prone to regular security breaches
• Frequent platform upgrades make migration from one upgrade to another a cumbersome, complex and costly exercise for enterprise brands

Pricing Plan

Their sales team gives custom pricing based on requirements (anywhere between $22000-$50,000 + ongoing costs hiring experts).

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a well-known WordPress plugin that offers open-source ecommerce solutions to build an online store. WooCommerce is a perfect choice for businesses already familiar with WordPress. It comes with a host of paid and free plugins that make it a well-suited platform in India for SMEs looking for budget-friendly ecommerce solutions. However, to use advanced features and functionalities fast-growing brands need to use paid extensions. 

Pros

• Open source solutions offer flexibility and are highly customizable
• Responsive design suited for modern devices
• Integrates seamlessly with WordPress
• Comes with a wide range of extensions and themes
• Offers flexible product management
• The CMS offers built-in blogging features
• Integrates with many secure payment options
• SEO optimization tools and features
• Inventory management solutions

Cons

• Despite being one of the popular ecommerce platforms in India, WooCommerce is a self-hosted ecommerce solution which means businesses have to handle updates and maintenance
• Peak load management requires cost and resource-intensive higher hosting plans 
• Designed for developers and hence needs trained experts to understand and manage coding and scripting of plugins
• Though the platform is customizable you will need expert coders to build an online store and customize it 
• Aligning WordPress themes for WooCommerce can be costly ( free ones are too common for enterprises), complex and time-taking
• While there are SEO tools built-in resolving issues like canonical URLs, page doubling etc. is complicated which would need trained experts
• Costlier than other ecommerce platforms in India when the hosting, upgrade and maintenance costs are factored in

Price

Variable depending on features, sales volume, hosting, development fees, plugins and other factors.

BigCommerce Ecommerce Website Builder

BigCommerce is one of the top ecommerce platforms suited for businesses of every scale and size. The  SaaS-based ecommerce solutions offer an easy-to-use interface and tools to manage business easily. Built on the Stencil engine BigCommerce is a robust ecommerce platform with intuitive tools for running and growing your business. BigCommerce also offers API-based integrations, and enterprise-grade hosting and handles peak load effortlessly.

Pros

• Lots of core features to run the business 
• Scalable solutions make it one of the best ecommerce platforms in India for diverse businesses
• Mobile responsive themes
• Multi-store feature in all plans
• SEO friendly ecommerce website builder
• Support for cross-channel commerce 
• Extensive product management features
• Security standards compliant
• Multi-tier discounts and coupon solutions
• Secure payment gateways
• Built-in reporting

Cons

• BigCommerce is not one of the most popular ecommerce platforms in India
• Relatively expensive for SMBs when compared to other similar platforms in India
• The learning curve is steep and needs experts to manage and build an online store
• Businesses that do not use BigCommerce payments need to pay for transaction costs which can dent profit margins
• Limited mobile commerce features 
• Limited design flexibility makes customizations cumbersome
• Premium apps for advanced features inflate the budget
• SEO features are not adequate for optimizing sites
• Limit on annual sales for each pricing plan which can inflate your costs as the business scales 

Price

• Standard- $ 29/month
• Plus- $79/ month
• Pro- $299/month
• Enterprise- Custom pricing+ additional cost for plugins

WIX

WIX is one of the ecommerce platforms in India that has grown in popularity because of its ease of use and cost-effectiveness. WIX comes with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface which helps in creating beautiful stores with ease. WIX also offers easy customization and even new users can build an online store easily right from the store design to aligning the checkout flow. 

Pros

• Quick and easy setup suitable even for small sellers
• User-friendly website builder for businesses of every scale
• Host of free and paid apps for different features
• Budget-friendly option especially for SMEs who can use the free plan
• 500+ design templates designed professionally for ecommerce stores of every size
• Mobile responsive design
• Seamless catalog and inventory management
• Integrated with secure payment gateways and offers automated sales tax calculations
• Built-in SEO tools

Cons

• Limited as compared to other bigger ecommerce platforms in India like StoreHippo, Shopify, Magento etc.
• Despite the ease-of-use offered by drag-and-drop features, customizations can be difficult for bigger brands looking for complete design overhaul
• Not suitable for large or enterprise brands as it is difficult to scale for high-volume or B2B businesses
• WIX has fewer integration options as compared to many top ecommerce platforms in India
• Product variant option is restricted 
• Difficulty in expanding to large product catalogs 
• Creating multilingual stores is difficult and there is lack of complete multilingual features

Pricing

• Light- INR 199/month
• Core- INR 399/month
• Business- INR 799/month
• Business Elite- INR 1599/month
• Enterprise- Custom Pricing

PrestaShop Ecommerce Platform In India 

PrestaShop is an open-source ecommerce platform ideal for small and medium Indian sellers and merchants with some technical understanding. While the platform is good for beginners as it offers an affordable and flexible solution it is not suitable for enterprises that need customisations and integrations. PrestaShop provides a wide range of features and customization options. With active community support, tech-savvy Indian merchants can use this ecommerce platform in India to take their business online. 

Pros

• Open-source ecommerce platform in India which is highly customizable
• Active community support
• Multiple stores can be configured in a single instance by turning on the multi-store option
• Offers responsive design so customers can have seams experiences on all devices
• Support for extensive product and inventory management features
• Capabilities to sell in international markets (multilingual and multi-currency support)
• SEO optimization features
• Secure payment gateways
• Marketing and promotional tools

Cons

• Complex for beginners with little or no technical knowledge
• Extensive customization to create the best ecommerce platform for your business requires advanced technical skills to understand workarounds with the 
• help of the community support
• Unvetted add-on and modules can make it cumbersome to set up tailored solutions
• No support for mobile apps
• Integrations are cumbersome and require a lot of time and effort

Pricing

Free of cost

Squarespace 

In the list of the top ecommerce platforms in India Squarespace features prominently as a user-friendly website builder with a drag-and-drop tool to create beautiful store designs. Squarespace requires quite some tweaks to add ecommerce functionalities suited for modern market demands. It is more suited for creatives and artists who want to showcase their products online. 

It's perfect for creatives and artists in India who want to showcase and sell their products online. While it may have some limitations for larger businesses, its aesthetics and simplicity are hard to beat.

Pros

• Stunning design templates which are simple to tweak and use
• User-friendly interface
• Best-suited for creative people, artists, designers etc who need design flexibility 
• Mobile responsive designs make it good for all devices
• SEO tools and built-in blogging feature
• Secure hosting with free SSL

Cons

• Limited ecommerce features for enterprise businesses
• Only two payment gateway integrations, i.e; PayPal and Stripe that do not accept INR transactions
• Pricing can be relatively higher when compared to other ecommerce platforms in India

Pricing

•  Personal- $23/month or $16/month for annual payment
•  Business- $33/month or $23/month for annual payment + 3% transaction fees
•  Basic Commerce- $36/month or $27/month for annual payment
•  Advanced Commerce- $65/month or $40/month for annual payment
• Custom pricing for enterprise plans

Ecwid

Ecwid is a SaaS-based eCommerce platform in India that starts with a free plan for small sellers and goes up to higher plans for bigger business sizes. Ecwid is versatile as it can convert websites built on WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Drupal, Squarespace etc. into an online store by integrating the store plugin/extension of Ecwid. To build an online store in India you can use any website builder and then integrate with one of the Ecwid extensions.  

Pros 

• Easy-to-use and beginner-friendly with a free plan for small and micro businesses
• Comes to the top ecommerce platform in India due to its ease of integration with diverse CMS and social media platforms
• Has its app store and extensions
• Makes to best ecommerce platforms in India for its versatility and Android and iOS mobile apps support
• Zero transaction fees

Cons

• Basic customisations make it unsuitable for big businesses
• No customer support for free plan businesses 
• Managing complex product variants is difficult
• Lacks analytics and reporting 
• Limited SEO capabilities and built-in marketing tools

Pricing 

• Free- for small sellers, limit is 10 products
• Venture- ₹  889/month, ₹ 668.58/month if paid annually
• Business- ₹1649/ month, ₹ 1199.92/month if paid annually
• Unlimited- ₹4990/ month, ₹ 4000/month paid annually

Big Cartel Ecommerce Website Builder

Big Cartel is one of the recent entrants to the best ecommerce platforms in India list. The ecommerce website builder for artists and makers is gaining a market reputation for helping small businesses with limited product offerings to build an online store and start selling online easily. Big Cartel is especially good for artists and designers who need a simple interface to showcase their products.

Pros

• Budget-friendly pricing for small businesses
• Suitable for artists and makers
• Easy-to-use and straightforward interface
• Customizable themes designed with artists in mind
• Mobile responsive 
• Inventory tracking feature

Cons

• Limited features compared to other top ecommerce platforms in India
• Ideal for small, niche businesses
• Suited for niche businesses not the best ecommerce platform in India for enterprise brands

Pricing

• 5 Products- free
• 50 Products- $9.99/ month
• 500 Products- $19.99/ month

How to choose the right ecommerce platform in India for your business 

Taking your business online is a decision that can decide the future success of your enterprise brand. Whether you are going online for the first time or planning ecommerce migration, deciding the right ecommerce platform in India for your brand should be done after a complete evaluation and thorough testing of the available solutions. 

While there are several ecommerce solution providers and website builders in the market, offering solutions for your current requirements, your decision should be based on the future roadmap of your growth plans. Also, the top ecommerce platforms in India would be one that not only align with your requirements and budget but gives you the flexibility and ease of tweaking the turnkey solution for your unique requirements.

To help you make an informed decision, we present a detailed table of the 10 best ecommerce platforms in India based on their technology, scalability, flexibility, features, ease of use and long-term support. Evaluate each platform and connect with their respective teams for a demo before making a final decision.

With the table above, you get a bird's eye view of the top-rated ecommerce platforms in India.

Conclusion

We have done detailed research and presented an unbiased comparison of the 10 best ecommerce platforms that can help you build an online store for your brand. With the comprehensive list of features, merits and drawbacks you have everything you need to begin the review of the top ecommerce platforms for your enterprise business. 

As each business is unique in its needs, hence the final solution you choose will depend on your business model, future goals and expansion plans. While there cannot be a single best-fit ecommerce platform in India for every business type, there are some ecommerce platforms that have a wide array of features and can be easily tweaked for current and future needs.

Before going with any of the above-listed best ecommerce platforms in India, get in touch with their expert team and ask every question you might have. Start evaluating each one of them by booking a demo to take a guided tour of the built-in features, available integrations and the kind of customisations that are possible. 

Get started with the very first on the list, and book your StoreHippo demo right away!