E-commerce Industry in India

Investments/Developments

Some of the major developments in the Indian e-commerce sector are as follows:

• Flipkart is targeting 1,500+ dark stores by end-2026 (from 750–850 in early 2026), while Amazon has scaled to 450–500 stores in 2026, pivoting fully to quick commerce. As of December 2025, incumbents still lead, Blinkit (2,100 stores; target 3,000 by 2027), Swiggy Instamart (1,136), and Zepto (1,150) highlighting a significant scale advantage of early movers. The aggressive 2026 expansion by Flipkart and Amazon, via asset-light, partner-led models, signals a strategic race to close the scale gap and capture high-frequency e-commerce demand, despite rising competition and pressure on unit economics.
• In December 2025, Delhivery has launched Delhivery International, an Economy Air Parcel service to simplify and reduce the cost of cross-border shipping for SMEs and enterprises in India.
• On December 2025, Amazon has announced a US$ 35 billion investment in India by 2030 to accelerate AI adoption, export growth, and job creation, taking its total investment to nearly US$ 75 billion. The plan aims to quadruple e-commerce exports to US$ 80 billion and support 3.8 million jobs, while expanding digital and logistics infrastructure. Amazon will also extend AI capabilities to 15 million small businesses and strengthen AI education aligned with National Education Policy 2020.
• In December 2025, Flipkart acquired a majority stake in Minivet AI, a GenAI startup, to strengthen its AI-led commerce capabilities. The move focuses on enhancing visual discovery, conversational search, and immersive shopping experiences, reflecting a broader shift toward AI-driven e-commerce innovation.
• In October 2025, major e-commerce platforms including Flipkart, Amazon, and Myntra ramped up seasonal hiring ahead of festivities, collectively creating over 3.8 lakh seasonal job opportunities across supply chain, logistics, and customer service. Delivery personnel made up the largest share of festive hires.
• In September 2025, Nykaa entered the UK market with the launch of its in-house brand Kay Beauty at Space NK, marking its expansion beyond India and the GCC. The move reflects growing global ambitions of Indian D2C beauty brands, supported by a strong domestic base of 13+ million customers and 38,000+ retail touchpoints.
• India buy now pay later market is projected to reach US$ 35.07 billion in India by 2030, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.8% every year.
• In September 2025, Paytm has introduced “Paytm Postpaid: Credit Line on UPI” in partnership with Suryoday Small Finance Bank, powered by the National Payments Corporation of India. The feature enables users to access short-term credit of up to 30 days, allowing them to “spend now and pay next month” across all UPI transactions, including QR payments, online shopping, and bill payments.
• India’s smartphone exports are estimated to have exceeded Rs. 2,53,681 crore (US$ 30 billion) in 2025, growing 47% YoY, driven by the PLI scheme and strong integration into global supply chains. Cumulative exports reached nearly US$ 80 billion (2021–2025), with Apple Inc. accounting for 75% (US$ 22 billion), positioning smartphones as India’s top export category. This surge strengthens the domestic manufacturing ecosystem and indirectly supports digital and e-commerce growth through increased device penetration.
• India’s e-commerce market is projected to grow 12.5% in 2025 to about US$ 211.6 billion, with expectations of reaching roughly US$ 326.7 billion by 2029, driven by strong online shopping demand and digital payments. The article highlighted the role of big festive sale events on platforms such as Flipkart, Myntra, and Amazon in sustaining this momentum.
• Flipkart’s quick commerce platform Minutes recorded a 16X surge in orders in H2 2025, driven by strong adoption among Gen Z and expansion into tier-2 and tier-3 cities. The platform saw 53 million unique users, with high repeat engagement and rising demand across premium categories, while fresh produce accounted for 45% of baskets. Growth was supported by a tech-enabled supply chain and a farm-to-home sourcing model connecting 2,000+ farmers, strengthening quick commerce penetration beyond metros.
• Quick commerce platforms like Blinkit have significantly expanded their user base, with daily order user share doubling from 8% in March 2025 to 17% in November 2025, indicating stronger consumer engagement in fast delivery e-commerce services.
• Tier-III cities powered India's festive e-commerce boom as growth shifted from discount-driven sales to smarter logistics and rising demand from smaller cities. Digital payments led the festive transactions with wide adoption in southern states and urban centers.
• The e-retail market more than doubled over the past five years, accompanied by shoppers doubling to reach 290–300 million. Gen Z, Tier 2+ cities, and middle-income households led incremental shopper growth. Gen Z has emerged as a sizable cohort, now accounting for 40%–45% of e-retail shoppers. Simultaneously, Bharat (Tier 2+ cities) has become a key cohort, contributing approximately half of incremental e-retail orders in 2025. The seller base also tripled over the past five years, with a sizable share emerging from Tier 2+ cities.
• Credit card use for e-commerce rose by 19.6% in October 2025, reflecting the increase in online shopping activity during the festive season.
• On September 4, 2025, Amazon India acquired Axio, securing Rs. 2,200 crore (US$ 255.55 million) in loans and enabling direct credit for consumers and MSMEs.
• Urban Company secured Rs. 854 crore (US$ 103 million) from anchor investors before its Rs. 1900 crore (US$ 216 million) IPO in September 2025.
• As of August 2025, Flipkart has created over 2.2 lakh seasonal jobs and plans 650 festive-only delivery hubs across tier II and III cities, boosting inclusive hiring and supply chain capacity ahead of the festive season.
• The Government of India is strengthening digital commerce infrastructure through initiatives such as the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which has onboarded over 1.16 lakh retail sellers across 630+ cities as of December 2025, improving market access for MSMEs and enabling wider participation in digital commerce.
• In June 2025, Shein and Reliance Retail form a strategic partnership to scale India-made apparel, aiming to expand the supplier base tenfold and begin overseas sales within 12 months.
• The India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) simplifies e-commerce exports by easing documentation for low-value consignments under Rs. 1,17,143 (US$ 1,354), benefiting Indian MSMEs and online sellers while ensuring compliance through Rules of Origin.
• During Prime Day 2025, held from July 12 to 14, Amazon India saw a 50% YoY growth in order volume, with orders peaking at over 18,000 per minute. More than 70% of new Prime sign-ups came from Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities.
• Flipkart’s New Seller Success Program, launched in January 2025, provides 60 days of free onboarding and advanced tools, helping first-time and Tier II-III city sellers achieve 2.3X faster success and 2X YoY growth.
• Amazon India reported delivering 41 crore items with Same-Day or Next-Day service for Prime members during 2024, reflecting a 26% YoY increase.
• In April 2025, Eternals’ cap on Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) ownership at 49.5% supports its shift to an inventory-led quick commerce model via Blinkit, enabling faster deliveries, stronger quality control, pricing flexibility, private label growth, compliance with data localisation norms, and attractive valuations at 1-1.5x sales for long-term domestic investors.
• Bengaluru-based startup ShopOS offers an AI-powered platform that automates e-commerce operations, from product listings to marketing, helping brands scale efficiently; it raised Rs. 172 crore (US$ 20 million) in 2025 led by Binny Bansal's 3State Ventures.
• In FY25, Udaan raised Rs. 975 crore (US$ 114 million), in funding at a valuation of Rs. 15,403 crore (US$ 1.8 billion), from investors including M&G Investments and Lightspeed.
• Urban Company secured Rs. 854 crore ($103 million) from anchor investors before its Rs. 1900 crore ($216 million) IPO in September 2025.
• In FY25, Flipkart’s logistics arm, Ekart, has joined the government-backed ONDC network to extend its delivery services to more e-commerce sellers and buyers, improving efficiency and supporting small sellers nationwide.
• In FY25, JioMart partnered with Meta to enable grocery shopping directly on WhatsApp, allowing users to browse and buy groceries seamlessly
• Nestle India to invest Rs. 5,000 crore (US$ 585 million) in capacity expansion, new product lines, and sustainability across its factories.
• In February 2025, Adani Group has announced an investment of Rs. 30,000 crore (US$ 3.46 billion) in Kerala over the next five years, focusing on infrastructure, logistics, and manufacturing expansion. The group, which is already developing the Vizhinjam port and operating Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, has invested Rs. 5,000 crore (US$ 577.1 million) in the port project and committed an additional Rs. 20,000 crore (US$ 2.31 billion).
• E-commerce leader Amazon and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) have renewed their partnership to enhance e-commerce exports from India. This extended collaboration builds on the initial memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in November 2023 and focuses on equipping Indian MSMEs with the essential skills and resources needed to succeed in the e-commerce export sector, as stated by the company.
• Decathlon has partnered with Myntra to enhance its e-commerce presence in India, leveraging Myntra's extensive network to reach tier I, II, and III cities, particularly in emerging sports markets like Northeast India, while offering a wide range of sports products and planning to invest US$ 11.48 million over the next five years to expand its retail footprint and digital capabilities.
• On May 17, 2024, IKEA announced a partnership with Rhenus to enhance its e-commerce expansion in the Delhi NCR region by establishing a 150,000 sq ft warehouse in Gurgaon, designed to store and fulfil over 7,000 products.
• Google LLC is investing US$ 350 million in Flipkart as part of a nearly US$ 1 billion funding round led by Walmart Inc., Flipkart's majority stakeholder, with the investment aimed at expanding Flipkart's business and modernizing its digital infrastructure to serve customers across India, and the two companies also plan to increase Flipkart's use of Google's cloud platform.
• The indigenous e-commerce giant Flipkart is poised to raise US$ 1 billion in a new funding round, with its parent company Walmart anticipated to contribute US$ 600 million.
• On August 25, 2023, Zepto, a two-year-old company, achieved unicorn status by securing US$ 200 million in funding, resulting in a valuation of US$ 1.4 billion, marking India's inaugural unicorn of 2023.
• In October 2023, Tata Group announced a US$ 1 billion investment in its super app, Tata Neu, in addition to the US$ 2 billion previously invested in its digital division earlier that year.
• In 2023, Amazon India achieved significant milestones, including surpassing a seller base of 14 lakh with three lakh new additions, digitizing 6.2 million small businesses, facilitating US$ 8 billion in exports, and generating 1.3 million jobs. Additionally, they committed to further digitizing 10 million businesses, enabling US$ 20 billion in exports, and create two million jobs by 2025, while also signing an MoU with DGFT for MSME capacity-building initiatives.
• On January 17, 2024, Shiprocket and Truecaller collaborated to empower sellers with seamless e-commerce transactions. This strategic partnership aims to streamline mobile onboarding to shopping journeys for three lakh Shiprocket merchants, enhancing the consumer experience.
• On December 4, 2023, ODN partnered with Middle East-based Channel Engine for the GCC e-commerce market, aiming to redefine the landscape by connecting brands and retailers to global sales channels for cross-border success.
• On February 6, 2024, Flipkart inaugurated its fourth grocery fulfilment centre in Malda, West Bengal, fostering over 700 local jobs and facilitating nationwide market access for local sellers, MSMEs, and farmers. The 1.13 lakh square feet centre processes over 7,000 orders daily, affirming Flipkart's commitment to prompt delivery and enhancing regional economic prospects.
• In October 2023, a tech-driven logistics platform iThink Logistics announced a strategic collaboration with India Post to boost e-commerce deliveries across remote parts of the country.
• Amazon CEO Mr. Andy Jassy announced that the company is committed to investing US$ 26 billion in India by 2030, out of which US$ 11 billion has already been invested.
• In July 2023, the post office departments of Canada and India recently entered into an agreement, which is aimed at facilitating e-commerce exports and establishing an International Tracked Packet Service (ITPS) between the two countries.
• In June 2023, Amazon India launched its new and affordable Amazon Prime Lite membership plan for shoppers in the country. 
• Walmart is preparing to spend over US$ 2.5 billion in India as the retailer doubles down on the opportunities it sees in India’s e-commerce and payments markets.
• Hyperlocal e-commerce startup, Magicpin announced that its daily order volume has zoomed 100-fold to 10,000 per day from over 100 within a month of joining the government-promoted Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) network.