The Silicon Review - Best Business Review Magazine 10 Best Startups of the Year 2019 Asia | Page 28

Popularizing E-Commerce in
E
-commerce is one of the
largest industries in the
world which has
revolutionized the way people
shop. Walmart ushered in the first
revolution in retail in the early
twentieth century by introducing
the concept of supermarkets.
Amazon kick-started the second
revolution with the e-commerce
model, wherein customers can
order goods from the comfort of
their homes. An Indian startup
named Flipkart has brought the
same idea to a market of over 1.3
billion customers.
Conceived by 2 visionaries who
are alumni of the prestigious
Indian Institute of Technology
and has worked for Amazon,
Flipkart initially was limited to
selling books. The entrepreneurial
journey of Sachin and BinnyBansal
(who are not related) has inspired
hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs
to follow their dreams of owning
a business and making it big.
Several critics concur that the
startup culture in the Indian city of
Bangalore was begun by Flipkart.
The early days of Flipkart were
riddled with difficulties for the
founders since the concept of
ordering stuff on the internet was
very new to India and it was highly
uncertain if people would take
to it. One of the most challenging
obstacles was to convenience
vendors to sign up with them,
which was followed by setting up
the website and payment partners,
getting the necessary permits and
finally advertising their idea to
investors as well as the general
public. A significant percentage
of the Indian population was and
continues to live in villages and
towns where a few people would
even have computers and fewer
still, an internet connection. Most
people prefer the traditional
way of shopping, i.e. going to the
shop/ supermarket. Changing this
mindset of the average Indian was
one of the biggest accomplishments
of Flipkart.
An e-commerce startup requires
numerous technologies to
support it and what Flipkart
couldn’t innovate, it acquired. The
company embellished itself and
its capabilities by acquiring other
companies and integrating the
new technologies with their own.
Flipkart laid the groundwork for its
nationwide expansion, while at the
same time expanding their network
of merchants and vendors. It
required many years of hard work,
market speculation, and dedication,
but in the end, it paid off. Flipkart
managed to capture the attention of