Indian e-commerce is growing 22% year-on-year, and UK direct-to-consumer brands are increasingly using Amazon India FBA, Flipkart and Myntra to reach the market. The hard part is not building the listing — it is getting the inventory there cleanly.
Here is the 2026 playbook our small-business customers use.
Step 1: Decide your Importer of Record (IOR)
Indian Customs needs an IOR — the entity legally importing the goods. You have three options:
Option A: Use Amazon India FBA as IOR
Fastest path to market. Amazon takes legal ownership at the Indian border and handles duty. You lose pricing control on duty pass-through, but you skip needing your own Indian GSTIN.
Option B: Register your own Indian GSTIN
Required if you want to sell on Flipkart, Myntra or direct-to-consumer. Registration takes 3–5 weeks and needs an Indian address (your fulfilment partner usually provides one).
Option C: Use a third-party IOR
Specialist Indian agents act as IOR on your behalf for a 1.5–3% fee on shipment value. Useful for test shipments before you commit to GSTIN registration.
Step 2: Calculate your landed cost
A UK product retailing at £20 in India typically lands at:
- Sea freight: £2.50/kg × chargeable weight.
- Indian Customs duty: 5–28% depending on HS code.
- IGST: 18% on (CIF value + duty).
- Social welfare cess: 10% of duty.
- Marketplace fee: 8–25% of selling price.
Build that into your unit economics before you ship. Many UK brands learn the hard way that a £20 product in the UK retails at ₹3,500 in India after fees.
Step 3: Prep the shipment correctly
- Each SKU on its own line in the commercial invoice with HS code.
- Master carton labels matching marketplace barcode requirements (FNSKU for Amazon India).
- Pallet-ready packaging — Amazon India FBA does not accept loose cartons.
- Brand authorisation letter if you are reselling another brand.
Step 4: Pick the right freight mode
For inventory restocks:
- Under 200 kg or urgent launch → air freight (5–7 days).
- 200 kg–2 tonnes → sea freight LCL (35–45 days).
- Over 2 tonnes → full container (FCL) sea freight, 28–35 days.
Step 5: Build a repeatable cadence
Once your IOR, paperwork templates and freight lane are set up, restocks become routine. Most of our small-business clients move to a monthly sea-freight slot — same paperwork, same lane, same arrival window. The first shipment is the hard one.