Bigcommerce, Australian e-commerce software platform enters India

Australian e-commerce setup platform Bigcommerce has entered India. Launched in 2009, Bigcommerce claims to be serving 50,000 customers across 65 countries. Eddie Machaalani, co-founder and CEO of Bigcommerce, cites the opportunity presented by Indian e-commerce as the reason to foray on Indian shores.

“The e-commerce market in India has grown by 34 percent in the last seven years. It was about US$600 million in 2011-12, and is expected to touch US$9 billion by 2016, and US$70 billion by 2020. Even after several years of significant growth, the Indian e-commerce market shows no signs of slowing down. Analysts suggest the Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 57 percent between 2012 and 2016, the fastest within the Asia-Pacific region. We believe the Indian market is growing rapidly and small businesses are becoming savvy. Our aim is to lead with education, provide local events, website content, webinars etc to empower our prospects and clients to become successful,” says Eddie.

Bigcommerce has partnered with India-based eRetail technology and marketing firm Iksula to help them work in the Indian market. “Iksula will become a reseller of Bigcommerce’s SaaS offering,” says Eddie. Bigcommerce plans are priced at Rs 1,600 per month for customers.

Along with help from Iksula, Bigcommerce will run local events for the Indian small business community and partner with local web design and development agencies to do this. After the initial spurt of marketing action, Eddie hopes word-of-mouth will help bring them organic growth.

Bigcommerce joins the race to target India SMBs along with Getit Infomedia, GoDaddy and Google –- all of whom revealed their plans to get SMBs online last year. Eddie however remains unfazed by competition. “In 2009, Bigcommerce launched to over 300 competitors and competed successfully with GoDaddy and others. Our core focus has always been on our relationships with our clients and by focusing on what we do best,” declares Eddie ambitiously.

In July last year, BigCommerce raised $40 million from Revolution Growth, an investment firm started by former AOL executive Steve Case and Ted Leonsis. To date, this e-commerce player has raised $75 million in funding. According to reports, since starting in 2009, revenues have doubled each year, and they claim to have taken 17 million orders and done $2 billion in online sales.