To start an e-commerce business in India, you need a few things: a product, a website, users on your website, shipping, and collecting money from users. I run my e-commerce store with a monthly revenue of 3 to 5 lakhs, so I have explained all these things in detail.
Everything shared in this article is practical knowledge that I have learned from real experience, so you don’t repeat the mistakes I made initially. This is a proper guide for you even if you have no money. I know many people who started their e-commerce business with zero investment. I will share examples and a roadmap of how people started an e-commerce business without money.
1. Product: What do you want to sell?
For example, let’s say you want to sell ladies’ wallets. Now you have two options. The first option is to contact a manufacturer, give them a design, and they will make wallets according to your design. The second option is to go to IndiaMART or other manufacturer platforms where products are already listed and you only need to promote them. From IndiaMART, you can find a manufacturer who provides trending women’s wallets like these. Now you have a product.
Another option is to look within your family and friends to see if anyone is involved in product sourcing, wholesale, or even retail. For example, we started with a men’s product because we had a family member who was already doing a wholesale wallet business. Because of his contacts, we were able to get high-quality products very easily. You can also look around in your friends and family—there is often someone doing some kind of offline business. Use your contacts and choose any option to source a product.
After finalizing the product, the next part is building a website.
2. Website
To start an e-commerce business, the first thing you need after product is a website where customers can place orders. This website is your online shop.
You have two popular options to build a website: WordPress or Shopify. Both are beginner-friendly. Shopify is easier to set up, while WordPress gives more control and flexibility. Choose the platform based on your comfort and budget. Once selected, design your website, upload product images, add prices, and make it live.
I built my website on Shopify because it is easy to use and also offers a 3-month free plan. So, you don’t need to spend any money on the website initially. After 3 months, you will need to pay roughly ₹2,000.
Here Detailed Comparison Between Shopify and WordPress
3. Traffic or Users – Bringing People to Your Website
After your website is live, the next challenge is getting people to visit it. Without Users on website, there will be no sales.
There are two ways to get traffic. The first is organic traffic by creating content on Instagram and YouTube. This method takes time and patience but works well for long-term growth.
We chose the second option and started running paid ads from day one. That’s why we were able to get sales for our product from the very first day. There are many free resources available that you can use to learn how to run paid ads. People are learning from these free resources and now generating lakhs in sales using paid ads.
Most people in India prefer Cash on Delivery (COD), and since your website is new, I recommend not adding a prepaid payment gateway initially. Based on my experience, start with COD and get some initial purchases.
Once traffic starts coming, check conversions. If 100 people visit your site and 2–3 people place an order, your product has potential. If there are no orders, improve your product, pricing, or website design.
4. Shipping – Delivering Orders to Customers
Next comes shipping. Once you start getting orders on Shopify, you need to ship them. There are multiple courier aggregators available, and you can ship orders directly from the comfort of your home. Shiprocket and Shipway are major players in this space. You can sign up on these platforms and start sending your parcels.
You can also list your products on Meesho, where GST is not required, and shipping is handled through their system. We personally used Shipway to ship our orders. We are also listed on Meesho, but we don’t actively use it.
Once you receive around 100 orders, ship all of them and then analyze your RTO rate—how many customers accept the orders and how many reject them. After this analysis, move on to the next phase.
5. Profit and Margin – Making Money in E-Commerce
Pricing plays a major role in profitability. Use this simple formula:
Selling Price = Cost of Goods × 3
For example, if your product cost is ₹200, your selling price should be around ₹599. Try to sell products in the ₹599 to ₹999 range. Avoid pricing below ₹499 because ad costs and shipping charges make it very hard to earn profits at lower prices.
Once you understand this margin structure, start testing your idea quickly. Do not overthink or procrastinate. Either you will earn money or you will gain experience—both are valuable.
How to Start Ecommerce Business Without Money
Now you know how to start an e-commerce business with zero money. The main question is: where do you actually need money to start this business?
First is the product. You can source products from IndiaMART, which does not require any initial capital. Whenever you receive an order, the supplier ships the product on your behalf. You can also use platforms like Roposo in the same way, where they handle product sourcing and shipping for you.
The next part is getting traffic to your website. For this, you usually need money to run ads. If you don’t have time to create organic content on Instagram or other platforms, paid ads are the fastest option. In this case, you can even use a credit card to run ads initially.
Here, we have clearly mentioned the options through which you can start your e-commerce business with zero money and test your idea without taking big risks.
Start business with zero money
Final Summary
Build a website, choose the right product, bring traffic, test conversions, ship orders, analyze results, and improve continuously. That is the complete roadmap to starting an e-commerce business.
If you need any help launching your e-commerce business, you can connect with us anytime.