India Ecommerce Paths for Foreign Sellers

It’s hard to overstate the ecommerce opportunity in India. The country’s population is now the world’s largest at 1.46 billion in 2025, per the United Nations, compared to 1.4 billion in China and 347 million in the U.S.

Yet India’s online retail sales of physical goods were an estimated $125 billion in 2025, a fraction of the roughly $1.1 trillion in China and $1.2 trillion in the U.S., according to Statista Market Insights.

However, doing business in India is not easy for foreign ecommerce companies.

They must adapt their product, pricing, and distribution strategies to the country’s complex foreign ownership laws, which aim to protect millions of small shop owners, big physical retailers, and consumers.

Foreign companies can enter the Indian ecommerce market in four ways:

Own a marketplace,
Sell to consumers via local distributors,
Sell to consumers directly via branded physical stores and websites.
Sell cross-border.

Marketplace

Foreigners can own 100% of marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers, provided that the marketplaces cannot (i) own inventory or sell their own products directly to consumers, or (ii) offer heavy discounts to influence price or favor select brands. Plus, under India’s marketplace rules, sales from a single seller cannot exceed 25% of the platform’s total.

Thus Amazon India and Walmart-owned Flipkart are pure marketplaces. The two sites dominate ecommerce in India, but neither sells its own inventory; instead, they rely on sales commissions, logistics, and brand management fees.

Distributor Tie-ups

Second, foreign companies can sell products to Indian consumers via tie-ups with India-based distributors, franchisees, and retail operators, who manage marketplace selling, logistics, and distribution to physical stores. Example providers are Apparel Group and Ace Turtle.

This local tie-up model is better suited for brands that want quick access to distribution. For example, Apparel Group manages Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret, while Ace Turtle operates Lee and Wrangler.

Marketplaces are the major source of brand discovery in India, alongside social media, and they are preferred channels for foreign merchants. Marketplaces offer tools to scale across fulfillment, product cataloging, after-sales support, and payments.

Despite the convenience, marketplace selling is highly competitive with varying listing fees and commissions.

Direct to Consumers

The third option is selling directly to Indian consumers, which foreign brands can do, with caveats. International companies that produce products in India or run their own single-brand brick-and-mortar stores can sell through ecommerce.

The benefit of the D2C model is control over brand visibility, customer experience, and pricing. The challenges are distribution and reach.

Only a few foreign brands opt for D2C in India due to higher setup time and costs, and the complex legal requirements. D2C brands have to register with India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs and meet the requirements of goods and services tax registration, local banks, and payment gateway providers, among other hurdles.

Plus, launching and growing websites takes time and money, as does building trust.

Cross-Border Selling

Nothing stops foreign merchants from selling cross-border to Indian consumers. Apparel, electronics, and beauty products dominate cross-border selling, and, anecdotally, buyers prefer sellers and marketplaces in the U.S., Australia, and China.

Apart from slow delivery, the downsides to merchants are high import duties, GST, and customs procedures. Those additional costs make the option less appealing to many brands.