You’ll love this case study if you are looking to increase your domain authority, drive more traffic to your site, and convert visitors to freemium and paying customers. 

I’ll show you how Dukaan achieved a domain authority score of 77, acquired over 1 million backlinks, converted millions of users, and attracted $17 million in funding, all in three years.

Let’s go 🚀🚀🚀

How Dukaan Grew From Zero to Over a Million Users in 3 Years

Every month, around 34,000 Indians search for “Dukaan”. 

Although this is a relatively small search volume compared to established brands like Shopify, Amazon, and Flipkart, it’s a decent number for a brand that started only three years ago.

Dukaan is a rising star worth studying. 

Two entrepreneurs, Suumit Shah and Subhash Choudhary, founded the ecommerce platform in May 2020 to help small businesses in India sell their products online. 

The duo observed that many small businesses were struggling to sell online during the lockdown, and giants like Amazon and Shopify weren’t catering to their needs. So, in 48 hours, they created an app these retailers and merchants could install on their phones in seconds and start selling their products online via WhatsApp. 

The result was impressive: within just 20 days of launching the Android app, over 150,000 entrepreneurs from 400 cities in India jumped on board to launch their stores. 

Currently, Dukaan has 5 million+ downloads of its mobile app on Google Play Store, with millions of customers selling products via WhatsApp and other social media platforms. Did I mention Dukaan is expanding globally to take on Shopify? Apparently, its remarkable success in India in just three years has given the brand the confidence to take on the world. 😉

So, how did Dukaan manage to gain market share in India, where giants like Flipkart, Amazon, and Shopify already dominate? The platform used two key strategies: a mobile-first approach and an effective SEO strategy. 

Let’s explore each strategy in detail.

Leveraging India’s Browsing Behavior with a Mobile-First Strategy

A mobile-first strategy means creating a website and app with mobile devices as the primary focus. This approach is crucial for ecommerce sites like Dukaan and Shopify in markets like India, as the majority of web users access the internet through a mobile phone. 

Similarweb estimates 79% of Indian internet users use their mobile devices to search for solutions each month, while only 20% use desktops.

From the get-go, Dukaan designed its platform specifically for mobile users—its co-founders launched a mobile app first before rolling out its website three months after launch.

Dukaan’s website design and user interface are optimized for smaller screens and mobile devices. The site displays information in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the user.

Interfaces with too many elements and options can be confusing and difficult to use on mobile devices because of their smaller screens. 

As a result, Dukaan uses a simple layout, fewer useful features, easy-to-tap buttons, and menus that are easy to navigate using touchscreen gestures, making it easy for users to navigate and find what they need faster.

Dukaan also uses large and legible font sizes, so users can read product descriptions and other content on smaller screens. 

Small text sizes are difficult to read on mobile devices, which can frustrate readers as they try to understand your product descriptions and content, and they eventually bounce off your site without taking the desired action.

There’s also minimal use of pop-ups and banners on the site, so they don’t interfere with the user’s experience. Plus, simple navigation with intuitive icons and gestures that make it easy for users to find what they want.

Another thing that stands out most is the fast time to value Dukaan offers users during signup/onboarding. 

When new users try to sign up for Dukaan, they only have to click the free trial button, sign up via their preferred social channel, enter a business name, and hit the “Finish” button. The process really does take less than a minute, depending on the speed of your internet connection.