5 business models gaining pace and poaching space in ecommerce

According to estimates from the study conducted by eTailing India, Indian ecommerce is set to touch US$76 billion by 2021.

Image source: HindustanTimes.com

This is the result of the new business models that are cropping up in the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem. Young entrepreneurs no longer see the problems in the way business is conducted in India. For them, these problems are opportunities to flourish and prosper through innovative solutions.

For instance, when consumers expressed their desire to get books delivered at their doorsteps, Flipkart stepped in, but when they exceeded expectations with getting even the consumable (low shelf life, like groceries) items also delivered at their convenience, companies like BigBasket, Grofers and MyGrahak were born to satisfy them. Similarly, Portea Medical stepped in for home-based medical care, and Housing.com for real estate challenges.

Five upcoming business models

Let us look at the five upcoming business models that are changing the face of ecommerce. Let us find out what is making them so popular amongst the Indian shoppers and what is their chief source of revenue.

There were a number of similar questions posed on Quora:

These companies, after facilitating our transactions, offer us cashback too, and to think that the only way they are surviving is only because they’re constantly being funded by top-notch investors would be a partial perspective. After all, the investors must have also looked at their business model and asked the founders the very same question:

“Cashback will help you acquire customers, but how will you make money with it?” And the answer is commissions.

1. Surfing on commissions

Paytm, Freecharge, FoodPanda, CouponDunia, and many others like that have built their revenue generation around the commission-based business model. Paytm and Freecharge receive their commissions from telecom companies (2 – 5 percent), while FoodPanda accomplishes this by charging restaurants for spreading their footprints online.

This not only helps the merchants (ones that have a physical store, but negligible or no online presence) get better exposure. They also provide them with market data and intelligence so that they could target their offerings better with respect to the competition in the market. This strategy thus provides users with more options, and merchants with more users.

Summing it all up