Why Indian FMCG Brands Should Replatform To Shopify Alternatives

The Indian FMCG sector has seen a remarkable shift towards e-commerce in recent years, with online FMCG sales growing by over 30% annually, according to a report by NielsenIQ. This rapid growth has led many FMCG brands to explore ecommerce platforms that can help them in exploring the immense opportunities offered by the ecommerce boom in India.

Consequently, many brands that started with Shopify are now considering Shopify alternatives that can better cater to their unique needs. With an increasing number of consumers turning to online shopping for everyday essentials, FMCG brands in India are rethinking their e-commerce strategies to stay ahead in this competitive market. 

Let’s explore the reasons that make the idea of migrating to Shopify alternatives worth considering for enterprise brands.

10 Reasons Why Enterprise FMCG Brands Need A Better Shopify Alternative

While Shopify seems the go to solution initially, the problem renders it unsuitable in the long run for many businesses planning to reach a wider Indian market.

Here are the reasons why FMCG companies look for Shopify competitors better suited for Indian Ecommerce:

1. High Transaction Fees

Shopify charges a transaction fee on every sale unless you use its proprietary payment gateway, Shopify Payments, which isn’t available in India. This can significantly increase operational costs, especially for FMCG enterprises that operate on tight margins and rely on high-volume sales. These fees can cut into profits, making it less appealing for brands looking to scale. The recurring expenses can add up, leading many to look for more cost-effective Shopify alternatives that offer lower transaction fees or none at all, providing better value for their business model.

How StoreHippo Helps

Unlike Shopify, StoreHippo does not impose additional transaction fees regardless of the payment gateway used. This allows FMCG brands to retain more of their revenue and operate more profitably, especially crucial in a high-volume, low-margin industry. By avoiding extra fees, brands can invest more in marketing or improving their product range. Many FMCG companies move to Shopify alternatives like StoreHippo to avoid the financial burden of excessive transaction fees and streamline their cost structure.

2. Limited Payment Gateway Integration

While Shopify supports a range of international payment gateways, it doesn’t natively integrate with some of the most popular Indian payment solutions, like UPI or local wallets. This limitation can result in a cumbersome checkout process for customers, potentially leading to cart abandonment. In a market where ease of transaction is crucial, this can be a significant disadvantage. Therefore, FMCG brands often choose to replatform to Shopify alternatives that offer seamless integration with a variety of local payment options to enhance customer experience.

How StoreHippo Helps

StoreHippo offers seamless integration with a wide range of Indian payment gateways, including UPI, Paytm, and other local options. This flexibility ensures a smoother checkout process for customers, catering to the diverse payment preferences of the Indian market. Additionally StoreHippo also provides the By providing more options, StoreHippo enhances the customer experience and reduces cart abandonment. For this reason, many FMCG companies replatform to Shopify alternatives like StoreHippo to offer a more inclusive and convenient payment experience.

3. Inadequate Support for Regional Languages

India is a linguistically diverse country, and reaching out to a broader audience often means providing content in regional languages. Shopify’s support for Indian languages is limited, making it difficult for FMCG businesses to localize their websites effectively. This lack of localization can hinder customer engagement and limit market reach. Many brands are thus prompted to move to Shopify alternatives that offer better language support and localization tools, enabling them to connect with customers in their preferred languages and enhance the shopping experience.

How StoreHippo Helps

StoreHippo supports multiple Indian languages including right to left languages like Urdu, allowing FMCG brands to easily localize their websites and connect with a broader audience. This capability helps brands cater to different linguistic demographics, making their products accessible to non-English-speaking customers. By offering a multilingual experience, StoreHippo helps brands build stronger relationships with their customers. Fast Moving Consumer Goods Brands seeking better localization often move to Shopify alternatives like StoreHippo to tap into regional markets effectively.

4. Insufficient Mobile Commerce Solutions

Shopify’s mobile commerce capabilities are somewhat limited, particularly in providing a fully customized mobile shopping experience. In a market like India, where a significant portion of online shopping is done through mobile devices, this can be a major drawback. Shopify’s templates and themes might not always be optimized for the diverse range of devices used by Indian consumers, potentially leading to a subpar user experience. 

How StoreHippo Helps

StoreHippo, on the other hand, offers mobile-first solutions with responsive themes and a mobile app builder. This allows FMCG setups to create seamless and engaging mobile experiences for their customers. StoreHippo also offers mobile admin for FMCG business’ admins, vendors and delivery agents taking the complete business mobile. By offering more advanced and flexible mobile commerce tools, StoreHippo helps brands capture the Tier 2 and 3 markets as well. Many FMCG enterprises move to Shopify alternatives like StoreHippo to ensure a robust and user-friendly mobile commerce presence.

5. Limited Omnichannel Support

Shopify's capabilities for integrating and managing multiple sales channels, both online and offline, are somewhat restrictive. For FMCG brands that operate across various platforms—be it mobile apps, websites, physical stores, online marketplaces, or social media—having a unified omnichannel strategy is crucial. Shopify’s limitations in synchronizing inventory, sales, and customer data across these channels can lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities for customer engagement. 

How StoreHippo Helps

StoreHippo addresses this gap by offering robust omnichannel solutions, and enabling brands to create seamless presence across multiple touchpoints be it mobile apps, PWA stores, social channels, WhatsApp, integration with online marketplaces or any other new age commerce enabled channel. StoreHippo uses its decoupled headless solutions to use the same backend logic and create new customer touchpoints for brands. This enables brands to provide a consistent shopping experience across every touchpoint. Many FMCG brands replatform to Shopify alternatives like StoreHippo to streamline their omnichannel operations and better engage with their customers.

6. Complicated Tax Configuration

India's Goods and Services Tax (GST) system is complex, with various tax slabs and rules. Shopify’s tax configuration settings are not fully optimized to handle this complexity, leading to potential errors and compliance issues. FMCG businesses have to manually set up these tax rules, which can be time-consuming and prone to mistakes. To simplify this aspect of e-commerce management, many brands consider Shopify alternatives that offer more robust and India-specific tax management features, ensuring compliance and reducing the administrative burden.

How StoreHippo Helps

StoreHippo comes with its own Tax Engine that is equipped with advanced tax management features tailored to India's complex and also offers full GST support. It allows FMCG brands to set up multiple tax rules and structures effortlessly, ensuring compliance and reducing the risk of errors. This feature simplifies the often complicated process of tax calculation and reporting. As a result, many FMCG companiess choose to replatform to Shopify alternatives like StoreHippo for more streamlined and hassle-free tax management.

7. High Cost of Apps and Add-ons

Many essential features that FMCG brands require, such as advanced shipping solutions, marketing tools, local payment integrations, are not included in Shopify’s basic offerings. Brands often need to rely on third-party apps to complete even core requirements of setting up an advanced website or marketplace, which come with additional costs. Over time, these add-ons can significantly increase the overall cost of running a Shopify store. As a result, FMCG companies often have to replatform to Shopify alternatives that offer these features as part of the standard package, reducing the reliance on expensive third-party solutions.

How StoreHippo Helps

StoreHippo offers a comprehensive set of built-in features, reducing the need for additional third-party apps. This all-in-one solution includes advanced shipping, marketing tools, blog engine, and payment integrations, all included in the platform’s base pricing. By eliminating the reliance on costly add-ons, StoreHippo provides a more cost-effective solution for brands. FMCG brands seeking to minimize additional expenses and operational complexity often move to Shopify alternatives like StoreHippo.

8. Restrictive Discount and Coupon Management

Offering discounts and coupons is a common strategy for FMCG businesses to attract and retain customers in India. However, Shopify’s platform has limitations when it comes to creating complex discount codes and promotional offers. Brands may find it challenging to implement specific discount strategies that cater to their marketing needs. These restrictions can limit promotional flexibility. Therefore, many FMCG businesses choose to replatform to Shopify alternatives that provide more advanced discount and coupon management capabilities, allowing for more tailored and effective marketing campaigns.

How StoreHippo Helps

StoreHippo comes with advanced discount engine that helps with discounts and coupon management features, allowing FMCG brands to create strategic promotional campaigns with ease. Brands can set up various discount rules, loyalty programs, and targeted offers to attract and retain customers. StoreHippo also offers the store wallet functionality which can be implemented for offering refund and loyalty points which engage customers for future purchases. This flexibility in marketing strategies enables brands to effectively drive sales and customer engagement. As a result, many FMCG enterprises choose to replatform to Shopify alternatives like StoreHippo for more dynamic and customizable promotional tools.

9. Limited Multi-Currency and Multi-Store Support

While Shopify offers multi-currency support, its capabilities for managing multiple stores from a single dashboard are limited. For FMCG companies targeting different international markets outside of India, this can be a significant drawback. FMCG companies are also capitalising on the quick commerce boom in India and for this they set-up different location specific stores. With Shopify, managing separate stores with varied pricing, inventory, and tax settings can become cumbersome. Shopify alternatives that offer robust multi-store management tools can simplify operations, allowing brands to cater to diverse markets more effectively and with greater ease. This ability to manage multiple storefronts efficiently is crucial for scaling up in the diverse Indian market.

How StoreHippo Helps

StoreHippo provides robust multi-store management and multi-currency support, allowing FMCG companies to manage different regional and international stores and cater to diverse markets efficiently. Brands can easily set up and operate multiple storefronts with localized pricing, inventory, and tax settings, all from a single dashboard. This feature is particularly useful for brands looking to expand their reach across different regions. Consequently, many FMCG brands move to Shopify alternatives like StoreHippo to leverage better multi-store and multi-currency functionalities.

10. Limited Customization for Indian Logistics

Efficient logistics are crucial for FMCG enterprises, especially in a market as diverse as India. Shopify’s integration with local logistics providers is limited, making it challenging to implement services like cash-on-delivery and region-specific delivery options. These limitations can affect the delivery experience, leading to customer dissatisfaction. FMCG setups often opt to move to Shopify alternatives that provide more flexibility and customization for local logistics, ensuring they can offer the delivery options their customers expect and require for a smooth shopping experience.

How StoreHippo Helps

StoreHippo comes with a built-in logistics module and provides robust integration with 30+ Indian logistics providers, supporting features like cash-on-delivery, regional shipping options, and real-time tracking. This flexibility enables FMCG businesses to offer a better delivery experience tailored to the diverse needs of Indian customers. StoreHippo also offers delivery boy solutions to manage hyperlocal deliveries using the delivery agents of location-specific vendors. By streamlining logistics, StoreHippo helps brands ensure timely and efficient deliveries. Many FMCG brands replatform to Shopify alternatives like StoreHippo to benefit from this enhanced logistical customization.

Conclusion

For Indian FMCG enterprises, Shopify presents several limitations in terms of localization, payment integration, logistics support, and more. StoreHippo addresses these challenges with its advanced features, such as built-in multilingual support, multi-vendor marketplace solutions, hyperlocal commerce capabilities, and seamless integration with local payment gateways and logistics partners. This makes StoreHippo a powerful Shopify alternative that aligns with the specific needs of the Indian FMCG market, helping businesses provide a seamless and localized shopping experience.

If your FMCG brand is looking to overcome the limitations of Shopify and better serve the Indian market, StoreHippo’s comprehensive eCommerce solutions offer the flexibility and tools needed to drive growth and success in this competitive landscape. Experience the difference first hand, begin your 14-day free trial now.