E-commerce and digital marketplaces

Stratum 6 · Integrated services

Stratum 6 · Integrated services

E-commerce and digital marketplaces

E-commerce sells goods and services through websites, apps and marketplaces, joining sellers, payment rails, warehouses and delivery fleets into one online purchase. UNCTAD estimates business e-commerce sales across 43 economies (about three-quarters of world GDP) at almost US$ 27 trillion in 2022, most of it business-to-business; online retail reaches 25-30% of all retail sales in China, the UK and Korea.¹

India. India's e-retail market reached US$ 65-66 billion of GMV in 2025 with 290-300 million online shoppers, and Bain expects US$ 170-180 billion by 2030; quick commerce was already US$ 10-11 billion, 16-17% of GMV². Payments run largely on UPI, which handled 24.07 billion transactions worth ₹29.37 lakh crore in September 2026, up 23% by volume on a year earlier (NPCI data)³.

Depends on 23 of 35 industries · 6 directly Relied on by 0 industries, directly or indirectly Enterprise types 10 in 6 stages Chokepoints 0 rated 5 of 5 Size almost US$ 27 trillion of business e-commerce sales (43 economies, B2B and B2C; UNCTAD estimate) 2022

Where ₹100 of e-commerce and digital marketplaces output goes

Where ₹100 of e-commerce and digital marketplaces output goes Every rupee of sales is paid out to someone along the chain. This splits ₹100 of output by who finally receives it, so you can see how exposed the industry is to commodity, chemical and energy prices. Commodities ₹1.7 Chemicals ₹0.1…

Price links with supplier industries

Price links with supplier industries How the industries this one buys from shape its prices: the share of its costs they make up, and how their prices have moved together. Tap a row for the charts. Hover or tap ? for what each measure means. Supplier industry Cost share Raw-material mix…

Follow one offering through the chain

Follow one offering through the chain 6 Example story · 6 steps · India A quick-commerce grocery order on Blinkit Follow one quick-commerce basket from rented cloud servers and brand warehouses to a dark store and a rider at the door. 1 / 6 · Digital infrastructure An app running on rented servers…

Buys directly from

Buys directly from Wholesale and retail trade Transport and logistics Software and IT services Data centres and cloud Finance: banking, insurance, markets Paper and packaging Depends on through its suppliers Apparel and footwear Building materials Computers and electronics Construction and…

Value chain, from upstream to the customer

Value chain, from upstream to the customer Criticality to the chain: 5 · Chokepoint 4 · Critical 3 · Important 2 · Supporting 1 · Commodity service Stage 1 Digital infrastructure Cloud and hosting providers 4 · Critical Rent compute, storage, content delivery and databases to marketplaces and…

What the whole chain draws on

What the whole chain draws on Every commodity, chemical and energy tile named by the enterprises above; ×n shows how many of them depend on it. Open any tile for its full detail. Commodities (7) Cu Copper H₂O Water St Steel Oil Crude oil Li Lithium Ct Cotton Tm Timber Chemicals (6) LLDPE…

Chokepoints and risks

Chokepoints and risks Platform concentration: a few marketplaces and ad platforms set fees and visibility for millions of sellers. Payment rail concentration: UPI handled 24.07 billion transactions in one month (September 2026), so outages or fee changes affect almost all Indian online checkout 3…

Sources

Sources Business e-commerce sales and the role of online platforms UNCTAD, 2024 How India Shops Online 2026 Bain & Company and Flipkart, 2026 UPI transactions surge 23% to 24.07 billion in September: NPCI DD News (Prasar Bharati), reporting NPCI data, 2026 Cloud market share Q1 2026: AWS…

Relationship cards

Household and personal care: Online marketplaces and quick-commerce apps have become a fast-growing route to market for soaps, shampoos, detergents and skin care in Indian cities. Quick commerce now makes up most online FMCG sales and a large slice of metro sales, so brands are reshaping packs, pricing and distribution around a few platforms while still relying on kiranas for most volume. (researched)
Apparel and footwear: Apparel and footwear buys from E-commerce and digital marketplaces; E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Apparel and footwear; apparel and footwear depends on E-commerce and digital marketplaces; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on apparel and footwear.
Computers and electronics: Computers and electronics buys from E-commerce and digital marketplaces; E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Computers and electronics; computers and electronics depends on E-commerce and digital marketplaces; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on computers and electronics.
Food and beverage processing: Food and beverage processing buys from E-commerce and digital marketplaces; E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Food and beverage processing; food and beverage processing depends on E-commerce and digital marketplaces; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on food and beverage processing.
AI and digital platforms: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from AI and digital platforms; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on AI and digital platforms.
Data centres and cloud: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Data centres and cloud; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on data centres and cloud.
Finance: banking, insurance, markets: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Finance: banking, insurance, markets; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on finance: banking, insurance, markets.
Furniture: Furniture buys from E-commerce and digital marketplaces; furniture depends on E-commerce and digital marketplaces.
Machinery and equipment: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Machinery and equipment; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on machinery and equipment.
Media and entertainment: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Media and entertainment; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on media and entertainment.
Paper and packaging: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Paper and packaging; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on paper and packaging.
Pharmaceuticals: Pharmaceuticals buys from E-commerce and digital marketplaces; pharmaceuticals depends on E-commerce and digital marketplaces.
Real estate: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Real estate; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on real estate.
Software and IT services: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Software and IT services; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on software and IT services.
Telecommunications: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Telecommunications; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on telecommunications.
Transport and logistics: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Transport and logistics; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on transport and logistics.
Vehicles, ships, rail, aircraft: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Vehicles, ships, rail, aircraft; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on vehicles, ships, rail, aircraft.
Wholesale and retail trade: E-commerce and digital marketplaces buys from Wholesale and retail trade; E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on wholesale and retail trade.
Adhesives and sealants: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on adhesives and sealants.
Aviation propulsion: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on aviation propulsion.
Boilers, furnaces and stoves: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on boilers, furnaces and stoves.
Combustion road vehicles: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on combustion road vehicles.
Copper: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on copper.
Cotton: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on cotton.
Crude oil: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on crude oil.
Data centres: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on data centres.
Distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectors: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectors.
Electric and hybrid vehicles: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on electric and hybrid vehicles.
Embodied energy trade: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on embodied energy trade.
Latent heat and cold storage: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on latent heat and cold storage.
Lithium: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on lithium.
Lithium iron phosphate batteries: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on lithium iron phosphate batteries.
PET resin: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on PET resin.
Polyester fibre: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on polyester fibre.
Polyethylene (LDPE, LLDPE): E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on polyethylene (LDPE, LLDPE).
Polypropylene: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on polypropylene.
Starch and cellulose derivatives: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on starch and cellulose derivatives.
Steel: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on steel.
Timber: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on timber.
Water: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on water.