A customer buys a brand, not a product. So if you are a startup then I recommend starting with brand building. This means that you need to build your own identity before your start selling on marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart. A new customer before buying your product there would definitely want to check your website. Let's be practical, Imagine you see a new product in amazon won't you research before buying it?

Once your marketplace sales are up and running and the customers are loving your product, it's ideal to own the customer journey. Get them to buy from your site and ship them directly. This ensures that you know their journey, interact with them and get their feedback, get them to review your product on the portal. Most importantly you save on marketplace commission. When you are spending marketing dollars, it makes sense to get customers to your website.

A Shopify website is your best bet if you want to build an e-commerce D2C website on a shoestring budget. We recommend Shopify as an e-commerce platform that helps grow your business, without needing any tech skills.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is a dedicated e-commerce website builder with which you can build your own online store.
Yes, it is as easy as it sounds – you don’t need tech skills, you don’t need a huge budget, and you don’t need to hire a tech guy and pay him bucketloads of money to make your dream a reality. This makes Shopify a quick and affordable way of creating your online store.


Pros of a Shopify platform
Multi-platform selling
With Shopify, you can Sell across multiple channels, including Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon.
Design and flexibility
You have the option to choose from a number of free and paid templates, or you can make your own from scratch.
Shopify Plugins
Shopify has an incredible library of apps and third-party plugins to help you to grow your online store to the next level.
Extensive payment options
Shopify supports popular payment gateways like Razorpay, and PayU, as well as providing their own gateway, Shopify Payments.
Cons of the Shopify Platform
Dependent on plugins
Shopify has fewer built-in features than other platforms, so you’ll need to use the plugins to really boost the functionality of your store. You would have to subscribe to access the premium features of these plugins thereby increasing your costs.
High transaction fees
Unless you use Shopify Payments, you’ll need to pay a hefty transaction fee, on top of other payment gateway costs.

Anyone can use Shopify and create an online store, All you need is an idea, something to sell, and an internet connection, and you could have an online store live in no time.
With over 1,500 apps, specialized features such as inventory tracking and shipping brands integration(Shiprocket, Delhivery), and a range of price plans, Shopify is a powerful platform to choose from. It can be used by any sized store and is extremely scalable.

• Just visit https://www.shopify.com and create your free account
• Choose your pricing plan (https://www.shopify.com/pricing) and thats it you are ready to build your site!
• A store builder should be very easy to use, especially when building an online store. E-commerce builders often struggle to combine power with ease of use, but Shopify has excelled in this crucial area.
• Shopify has a clean, clear, and simple interface that makes setting up your store a delightful experience, even for total beginners.
• You won’t have your site live in five minutes, because Shopify still needs you to do some configurations into its backend. However, its smooth and simple-to-use editor makes your life easy.

Shopify has a number of plans, so you can choose one that best suits your needs and budget.
First of all, Shopify provides a 14-day free trial – you don’t need to enter any payment details, so there’s no risk, and no pressure to sign up. You’ll just need an email, and you can test out Shopify totally cost-free for two weeks. Shopify’s three main plans are Basic Shopify, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify.
Shopify Pricing Summary(Subject to change, please Visit https://www.shopify.com/pricing for more details)
Basic Shopify: INR 1994 per month (INR 1499 a month if you opt for an annual subscription)– It's the cheapest plan to build your own store; provides all the essentials for a new online store. You pay a 2% transaction fee on each sale.
Shopify: INR 7447 per month (INR 5599 a month if you opt for an annual subscription) – for growing businesses; includes features such as gift card creation. 1% transaction fee, unless you use Shopify Payments.
Advanced Shopify: INR 30,164 per month (INR 22,680 a month if you opt for an annual subscription) – for big businesses wanting to scale up; includes advanced reports and third-party calculated shipping rates. 0.5% transaction fee, unless you use Shopify Payments.

Which Shopify plan is the best?
If you want to start selling quickly and don’t want the hassle of building a website, then Basic Shopify is the best place to start. For everything you get included in the plan, INR 1,994 a reasonable monthly price!
Remember, Shopify gives you 14 days to try out its platform for free, so make sure to make use of that before signing up.