The Indian Shopping Search Engines

The Indian Shopping Search Engines
Indian e-commerce market is constantly evolving and growing exponentially. It has not
reached the saturation point of western e-commerce sectors yet, hence the market has a
long way to go when it comes to e-shopping. There are plenty of options to buy products
online but very few resources to search and compare. The go to option is Google but it is
not helpful to find the best website, deals or prices. This gap has created a huge
opportunity for many startups to come up with shopping search engines. This is a
booming area for small and big companies to enter and specialize. Plenty of these
websites function as a price comparing platform rather than a search engine. The Indian
market is in grave need of smarter platforms for product search and to find new websites.
The market dictates that 175 million people will shop online in India by 2020. Since 100%
FDI is allowed in the B2B e-commerce sector, the Indian e-commerce entity can grow to
a whopping $84 Billion by 2021 according to IBEF (Indian Brand Equity Foundation). The
projected number of internet users in India will be 829 million by 2021. It is not just the
metropolitans, the tier 2 and tier 3 cities are becoming top consumers of the e-commerce
industry. Internet penetration in rural India is expected to grow as high as 45% by 2021
compared to the current rate of 32%. Quantifying the retail logistics market in India, it was
estimated at $1.35 billion and is expected to grow 36% CAGR over the next three years.
These statistics prove that there is a lot of potential for the industry to grow and increase
in value. Here are the up and coming shopping search engines for India’s netizens in no
particular order:
Google Shopping:
Google Shopping is allowing the users to go through offers, review prices from multiple
sellers and find the products they are searching for. Customers can see the trending
products across different categories, various deals, and compare prices using the
advanced features. For retailers, the company is offering its 'Merchant Center' in Hindi,
which will enable the sellers to list their products for Google Shopping, without paying for
ad campaigns. The mogul of search engines is still struggling to find its feet in the Indian
market. Their comparison site is still adapting to the needs of Indian Shoppers.
Taglr:
Taglr’s tagline states that it is India’s Shopping Search Engine. It has a unique structure
with more than 180+ websites and 8 million+ products. In the past 2-3 years, the website
has managed to keep its bounce rate very low. With almost 5 million monthly visits, Taglr

has a lot to offer for its B2C and B2B clients. Taglr showcases all the major categories
like Electronics, Fashion, Home and Wellness. The company has recently launched
ShopperAds, which is an ad platform for brands and retailers to promote their offers,
products and services with ad banners. These ads help the brands leverage on Taglr’s
traffic to generate more business and create brand awareness. Taglr’s social media
presence is really strong with a great engagement rate.
PriceDekho:
The website has a huge repertoire. It showcases product listings along with some
advance features like price notifications that can be emailed to you, if you have shown
interest in a product and it is available at a lower price. Pricedekho has also joined the
nation’s coupon mania. There are payment options to use coupons and get additional
discounts. The average visit duration is a little over a minute, with a bounce rate of more
than 62%.
MySmartPrice:
This website's main focus initially was on gadgets and small electronic products. But, now
it has evolved to a more sophisticated platform with new sections for clothing and books
across all the top e-commerce stores. Plus, it now offers coupons as well. The shoppers
on average are spending almost 2 minutes on this website which proves that their
engagement is really effective.
Shoppingwish/Scandid:
Shoppingwish, which is also known as Scandid, is one of the newest in the bunch. After
early growth, the startup site now has three million products listed from over 120 e-tailers.
The website might include fashion, baby products, and home furnishings. Shoppingwish
will also launch personalization of shopping search results based on a user’s social media
cues. Even though the website has millions of visitors, the average duration shoppers are
spending is around 30 seconds.
Pricecheck India:
Pricecheck is known for being a specialist in price comparison. The shoppers are getting
smarter, they want to check multiple websites before buying any product. Pricecheck
India attracts a very specific set of audience who want to compare prices to get the best
deals. It is not exactly a shopping search engine but categorically, it is under the same
umbrella.
PriceBaba:

The website is for the metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. PriceBaba comes
in as a way to find good prices among offline retailers for mobile phones. Pricebaba is a
great example of how vast the market is and there is so much to explore. Even if the
platform has something small and specific to offer, there will be dedicated users.
PriceBaba has a very low bounce rate and the average visit span is almost 2 mins.
Parting Thoughts:
The Indian market has presented itself as a great prospect for e-commerce innovations.
There are a handful of search engines and most of them are not providing enough
solutions for B2B and B2C needs. This provides an opportunity for platforms like Taglr to
step up and dominate the market. One of the common concerns across all these websites
is the user experience. Google Shopping and Taglr have been the only ones to provide
a smooth interface and easy access.