StoreHippo Readies For India Mobile Commerce Boom

The eCommerce-as-a-Service boom has enabled retailers to more easily launch online stores and sell their goods, but one startup has taken that solution to the next level.

StoreHippo offers retailers a mobile-first eCommerce-as-a-Service tool focusing on helping its business users be able to sell across borders — mobile-first, meaning the online sales platforms offered to sellers are automatically ready to be viewed on a mobile device.

In an interview with BW Disrupt, India-based StoreHippo told reporters that its founder and CEO, Rajiv Kumar, developed the solution out of his own frustrations at existing offerings.

“Most of these [solutions] had too many limitations, were not flexible enough for customization and were not ready for mobile commerce, which is rapidly scaling up and would be the future of online stores,” the company told the outlet. “Despite increasing demand for SaaS-based, mobile-ready platforms, existing platforms had not stepped up to cater to this requirement.”

Another point of friction for the CEO was that many eCommerce-as-a-Service tools may have offered a platform to develop a web store, but store owners still had to access third-party solutions providers on their own, like payments processors and logistics firms.

After nearly three years in operation, StoreHippo reportedly services as many as 800 sellers across verticals and across geographic borders.

Servicing clients doesn’t come without its challenges, however. The company cited its biggest hurdle as helping sellers understand why StoreHippo’s technology is more beneficial than some older offerings.

“Many clients, especially who are new to the eCommerce arena, need hand-holding in the initial stages, despite the platform being a DIY platform,” the company said.

But reports said the opportunity in India’s eCommerce market makes StoreHippo’s hurdles well worth clearing. According to reports, the nation’s eCommerce market is expected to generate $120 billion worth of revenue by the end of the decade, four times the value of today’s market. Researchers point to India as the fastest-growing eCommerce market on the planet.

But that means the competition will be fierce.

“Therein will lie StoreHippo’s and similar vendors’ opportunity to grow exponentially,” reports declared.