How Shiprocket has levelled the playing field for over 63 million MSMEs of Bharat

In the dynamic realm of eCommerce, where digital transactions shape the landscape of modern business, Shiprocket emerges as a transformative force for India’s merchants in the digital age. As the country’s premier eCommerce Enablement Platform and a recent addition to India’s Unicorn club, Shiprocket embodies innovation, empowerment, and seamless connectivity in the ever-expanding online marketplace. With a mission to simplify and democratise eCommerce for businesses of all sizes, Shiprocket offers a comprehensive suite of AI-driven solutions and reliable services, revolutionising every facet of the eCommerce journey, from order fulfilment to international expansion.

In conversation with Adgully, Somil Agrawal, SVP and Head of Marketing, Shiprocket, delves into various facets of Shiprocket, the journey to becoming a unicorn business, benefiting from government initiatives, supporting MSMEs, and much more.

Could you provide an overview of Shiprocket and the services it offers?

India’s largest eCommerce Enablement Platform, Shiprocket is on a mission to make eCommerce simple, accessible and trustworthy for the merchants of India. Shiprocket, India’s 106th unicorn enables eCommerce sellers with AI-driven technology and dependable services encompassing conversion, order fulfilment, shipping, buyer communication, returns management, and more. Shiprocket provides sellers with just about everything they need at every step of their eCommerce journey to deliver a delightful customer experience.

Whether it is streamlining marketing processes, facilitating secure payment gateways, enabling omnichannel strategies, automating warehousing and fulfilment operations, enhancing post-purchase experiences, or venturing into international markets, we ensure a seamless eCommerce journey, addressing all seller pain-points.

At Shiprocket, we aim to become a leading facilitator of e-commerce for Indian merchants. Our goal is to create an inclusive and open-access tech ecosystem for every merchant in order to ease their business. We are on a mission to reach small-scale merchants in every nook and corner of the country and enable them with technological solutions that can help power their business growth. We want to enable merchants with a competitive advantage over the larger platforms that are out there. Over the next five years, our objective is to witness the journey of small brands in India venturing into the global market, capturing the hearts of audiences and garnering well-deserved recognition and appreciation.

As India’s 106th Unicorn, could you describe Shiprocket’s journey from a standard business to achieving unicorn status?

Our journey from BigFoot Retail Solution in 2012 has culminated in our ascent to becoming India’s 106th Unicorn. This is a testament to our commitment to evolution within the e-commerce sphere. Initially conceived as Kartrocket, our mission was to equip small businesses with the means for direct-to-customer e-commerce sales. However, as we confronted the of the subscription billing model and witnessed the shifting demands of SMBs, we embraced a path of transformation.

In 2017, we pivoted to become Shiprocket, reflecting our expanded focus beyond just shipping services to encompassing a comprehensive e-commerce enablement platform. Since then, we have undergone several growth cycles, expanding our offerings to include warehousing, payments, and a suite of layered tech components. Our goal has been to apply the successful playbook for shipping across the entire transactional journey of a merchant.

We have diligently catered to the needs of MSMEs in the D2C space, aiming to further their reach across the country. Today, Shiprocket stands as an end-to-end e-commerce enablement platform, firmly positioned to tap into the growth of India’s burgeoning e-commerce market. Having powered over 3.5 lakh merchants nationwide and 20 crore transactions annually, we have facilitated the seamless connection of small-scale sellers, including artisans from around the country, to their customers.

We are committed to ensuring a smooth eCommerce journey for our sellers, from marketing automation, omnichannel strategies, shipping solutions to warehouse and fulfilment, capital needs, post-purchase experiences or international expansion. Our aim is to enable them to thrive in India’s dynamic eCommerce sector. As we continue to evolve and innovate, Shiprocket is poised to make significant strides in India’s direct commerce landscape, empowering businesses to succeed in the digital age.

As a unicorn, has Shiprocket benefited from any specific government initiatives?

Aligning with our mission of enabling inclusive growth in every nook and corner of the country, government initiatives have been instrumental in strengthening our operational capacities and expanding our market presence. Firstly, through our partnership with India Post, we leveraged the extensive last-mile delivery network of India Post to bolster e-commerce product delivery. This collaboration not only streamlined the delivery process, but also fostered an environment conducive to promoting India’s export ecosystem. Moreover, our partnership with ONDC marked a significant milestone in inter-city logistics provision. By being the first to plug into the ONDC network, we facilitated seamless product shipments to cities and towns across India, catering to sellers from diverse segments. The subsequent integration of the Shiprocket seller app with ONDC further streamlined the onboarding process for sellers onto the network, thereby expanding the digital commerce landscape.

Additionally, our collaboration with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) underscores our commitment to supporting MSMEs in the e-commerce export domain. The recent launch event for the eCommerce export handbook for MSMEs, in conjunction with DGFT, highlights our proactive engagement in capacity-building initiatives across various Indian districts. This MOU reflects a strategic alignment between Shiprocket and DGFT, aimed at fostering comprehensive support mechanisms for MSMEs venturing into e-commerce export.

Our involvement in these government initiatives not only underscores our commitment to driving innovation and efficiency in enabling eCommerce, but also signifies our pivotal role in advancing India's digital commerce ecosystem.

Could you elaborate on the ‘Entrepreneur Se Super Entrepreneur’ campaign and explain how Shiprocket assists entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses?

In the ever-evolving landscape of eCommerce, sellers strive relentlessly to expand their businesses daily. Yet, this pursuit of fast-tracking their journey often turns into an exhaustive process as sellers navigate through a multitude of solutions and platforms for their various eCommerce needs. This is where Shiprocket comes in.

Taking our vision further with the ‘Entrepreneur se Super Entrepreneur’ campaign, we aim to create an inclusive and open-access tech ecosystem for every merchant in order to ease their business further. Through this campaign, we want to underscore our commitment to reach small-scale merchants in every nook and corner of the country and enable them with technological solutions that can help power their business growth.

The campaign narrative revolves around this transformation of an ordinary seller into a Super Entrepreneur through the intervention of Shiprocket’s services. The master creatives depict a split-screen approach, with one half portraying the challenges faced by sellers without Shiprocket and the other half showcasing the empowered Super Entrepreneurs equipped with Shiprocket’s solutions.

At Shiprocket, we enable entrepreneurs in scaling their business by gaining a competitive advantage over the larger platforms that are out there. Through our tech-stack, we deliver a seamless shopping experience through our offerings in marketing automation, payment gateways, omnichannel enablement, warehousing and fulfilment automation and the post-purchase journey. Going beyond national boundaries, we are powering the India to Global mission through international expansion for entrepreneurs, enabling them to effortlessly sell goods in the global market while highlighting the exceptional quality and value of Indian products to a worldwide audience.

What role does Shiprocket play in supporting MSMEs, particularly in alignment with the Government of India’s India@100 vision?

As India’s 106th Unicorn and leading e-commerce enablement platform, here’s how Shiprocket has levelled the global and Indian playing field for the 63 million+ MSMEs of BHARAT:

1. Strengthening the universe of strategic partnerships to further deliver the promise of building an end-to-end full-stack tech-enabled eCommerce platform. To do this, Shiprocket partnered with India Post, ONDC, DGFT, eBay, SkyeAir, Unicommerce, FIEO and more.
2. Partnering with game-changing government initiatives like ONDC and DGFT not just as a logistics partner but as a plugin partner to enable eCommerce for India’s grassroots and penetrating through every nook and corner of the country.
3. Creating the ultimate eCommerce tech stack: Apart from partnerships, Shiprocket launched an extensive set of tech offerings for every eCommerce need of the merchant. At the Shiprocket SHIVIR event, the brand introduced a new lineup of products like Shiprocket Convert, Brand Boost, Delivery Boost, Shiprocket Promise, Shiprocket Notify, Shiprocket Engage+.
4. Providing assistance to MSMEs for their every eCommerce need: Shiprocket recently launched a revenue-based financing platform for SMBs called Shiprocket Capital. We aim to disburse around INR 100 crores to SMBs, in the next 12 months. In line with our mission of enabling the ease of doing business for Indian merchants, Shiprocket Capital promises to transform the financing landscape for emerging eCommerce businesses by enabling financing that is easy, quick, collateral-free and liability-free. In our pilot phase, Shiprocket has already enabled around 150 SMBs with access to vital growth capital and disbursed more than INR 35 crores via Shiprocket Capital.
5. Increased marketing efforts in terms of hosting MSME-focused events like Shiprocket Yatra, Shiprocket Aarambh, Shiprocket SHIVIR, to enable them with access to knowledge-sharing and networking platforms, hence enabling a never-seen-before MSME-focused dialogue. Shiprocket hosts various events to reach MSMEs at ground level.

Does Shiprocket offer any additional programs aimed at supporting women in the MSME sector?

Shiprocket Aarambh is a yearly women-only startup accelerator programme by Shiprocket. We concluded the 5th edition of Aarambh in March 2024 aligning with this year’s Women’s Day: “Invest in women: Accelerate progress”. The programme aims to empower women-led businesses by providing them with access to resources, mentorship, and funding. Aarambh is open to women-led businesses of all sizes and stages. The programme offers a 12-week curriculum that covers topics such as business planning, marketing, and sales. We have empowered 100+ womenpreneurs through Aarambh.

How does Shiprocket integrate artificial intelligence into its operations?

At Shiprocket, we leverage AI-driven technology and reliable services to empower eCommerce sellers. We power more than 20 million transactions and utilise over a billion data points to support our AI-led products. Our comprehensive suite encompasses various facets such as conversion optimization, order fulfilment, shipping logistics, buyer communication, returns management, and more.

Within our tech-driven offerings across Courier, Shipping, Fulfilment, and Growth domains, Shiprocket stands out with features like multi-carrier support through AI covering over 24,000 Indian pin codes, lightning-fast hyperlocal delivery, and seamless cross-border solutions across 220+ countries and territories through Shiprocket X. This enables merchants to streamline their shipping processes and automate workflows across various sales channels.

Shiprocket’s all-in-one marketing automation product, Wigzo, uses AI segmentation to send hyper-personalised campaigns for precise targeting and superior conversion rates. This also enables the creation of automated communication workflows based on customer behaviour, date, frequency, event, or segmentation rule.

Under the Fulfilment category, Shiprocket adopts a technology-centric approach to simplify order fulfilment, boasting a unified management system, 42+ fulfilment centres, and integration with 12+ channels. This not only streamlines operations, but also positions Shiprocket as a growth partner for merchants.

Moreover, Shiprocket offers an array of products such as Shiprocket Capital, Shiprocket Convert, Delivery Boost, Shiprocket Notify, Shiprocket Promise, Brand Boost 2.0, Wigzo, Rocketfuel, Checkout, and Shiprocket Amplify. These products actively enhance brand visibility and drive conversions for merchants, showcasing Shiprocket’s commitment to innovation and AI integration in our operational strategies.