Temasek and Zomato-backed Shiprocket is doubling down on its transformation from a logistics services provider to a full stack ecommerce enabler for direct to consumer (D2C) brands and small businesses. The company is betting on future growth areas such as cross-border commerce, global dropshipping, and financial and marketing services, to help such businesses scale digitally, said Saahil Goel, MD and CEO, Shiprocket.
Shiprocket serves a diverse customer base, from high-volume D2C brands like Mamaearth and boAt, to small sellers generating a few lakhs in monthly revenues, many of whom operate entirely on social platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp.
“Our goal is to be a Zoho for commerce,” said Goel. “We're building a full-stack platform where shipping is just one piece. From marketing and payments to CRM and financing — we want to empower merchants with every tool they need to grow.”
He added that Shiprocket has already clocked ₹30,000+ crore in gross merchandise value (GMV) for its over 1,50,000 sellers and is growing at 30–40 percent annually. But Goel believes the real inflection point lies ahead: “E-commerce penetration in India is just 7–8 percent. In China, it's 45 percent. India is barely getting started. We're building for what India will look like in 2045.”
As part of its growth plans, Goel highlighted that the company is focussing on areas such as cross-border commerce and building a suite of services — including financial and marketing services — to help Indian SMBs (small and medium businesses) scale digitally.
“With the transaction volume we handle, we can help sellers with embedded credit, CRM (customer relationship management) tools, payments, and performance marketing — all stitched together using data. The opportunity is to help merchants grow, not just run operations,” Goel added.
On the international front, Shiprocket plans to support a new wave of Indian micro-exporters — businesses selling globally via platforms like Etsy, Amazon, and eBay. “We’re not focussed on large container shipments. We’re focussed on creators, individuals, and small brands who want to sell 10–50 units abroad,” he explained. The idea is to enable dropshipping from India with complete backend support — listings, logistics, compliance, and payments.
Dropshipping is a business model whereby a company sells products online without holding any inventory. Orders are fulfilled by third-party suppliers who ship products directly to customers.
These growth plans come at a time when the company has reportedly been working on its initial public offering (IPO).
Moneycontrol reported on December 12 that the company had started working on an IPO, which could see the company raise around Rs 2,000-2,400 crore.
While Goel declined to comment on the IPO plans, he pointed out that “Being IPO-ready is about internal maturity, not market timing.”
“We’ve always believed in building long-term. If and when we go public, it’ll be about trust, transparency, and institutional scale — not just fundraising. We’re building for a 20-year horizon. Public listing is a natural step when you’re trying to create infrastructure for Indian commerce,” Goel explained.
From SaaS to ecommerce enabler
Shiprocket’s journey began 13 years ago, not as a logistics player, but as a SaaS (software-as-a-service) experiment to help small businesses leverage the internet. “We started by building shopping carts and basic websites,” Goel recalled, “But soon realised that what India needed was not an all-in-one platform — it needed modular solutions that could plug into different parts of a merchant’s operations.”
That insight led to Shiprocket’s pivot to logistics. “In 2017, we launched Shiprocket as it is today, narrowing our focus to solving fulfilment, conversion, and shipping problems for India’s growing army of D2C merchants.
“That’s when the platform really took off,” Goel added. Over time, it evolved into a full-stack ecosystem that also helped merchants with discovery, checkouts, customer experience, etc.
Shiprocket doesn’t own warehouses or delivery fleets. “We’re a layer of intelligence on top of India’s commerce and logistics infrastructure. What we own is the software stack and the data engine,” Goel said.
Long tail
A key focus of Shiprocket’s business is to serve India’s long tail — millions of small and midsize sellers who are not served by large marketplaces or enterprise tech providers. According to Goel, its platform is self-serve, mobile-friendly, and built for scale.
“For the first time, we’re seeing a 30-year-old in Gwalior start a brand on Instagram, use Shiprocket to fulfill orders, process payments, and run a business — all without touching a line of code,” Goel says.
He sees this as part of a broader trend, the unbundling of commerce: “Marketplaces like Amazon are going to be there. But increasingly, sellers want to own their brand and their customer. That’s where we come in.”
Cost to revenue centre
Shiprocket is also moving from being a cost centre (backend services and logistics provider) to becoming a revenue engine for merchants. With tools like cart abandonment recovery, post-purchase upsell, and performance marketing integration, it helps sellers increase conversions and improve customer lifetime value (LTV).
“We’re not just helping them deliver packages. We’re helping them convert more customers, retain them longer, and earn more per order,” Goel explained. This shift is crucial for building a sticky, value-driven platform, he added.
And with plans to go deeper into fintech, including working capital loans and embedded credit for customers, Shiprocket is also trying to position itself as a financial partner for digital entrepreneurs.
Looking ahead, Goel said that Shiprocket is focussed on doubling down in India, while also expanding global capabilities. There’s no immediate push for international expansion, but the platform’s architecture is ready for it, he clarified.
“We don’t want to be everything to everyone. But we want to be everything to Indian sellers building digital-first businesses,” he said. “We’re building infrastructure. It’s slow, deliberate, and long-term. But it’s foundational.”
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