How SmartBiz by Amazon is using a no-code technology to bring Indian brands online

If you walk into any old repair shop in Bengaluru, you may still find someone placing an HMT watch on the counter and asking if it can be fixed. 

Sometimes it is a grandfather’s Janata model. Sometimes it is a Chetan that has survived three decades. 

These watches carry more than gears. They carry stories. 

But the way people buy them has changed. Indians who once visited showrooms now tap on screens, expect next day delivery and want an easy checkout. For many legacy brands, this shift has created a gap between their heritage and the way the market now works.

But going digital is rarely simple for legacy brands. Technology is intimidating, website development is expensive, cataloging is chaotic, and building an online store often requires entire teams.

This is precisely the gap SmartBiz by Amazon wants to close, and HMT has become one of its most telling case studies.

A no-code gateway for Indian businesses

SmartBiz by Amazon was built for a very specific Indian reality: millions of businesses, from local stores to heritage manufacturers, want to sell online but don’t have the tech muscle or budget to set up an ecommerce operation. 

“It’s an all-in-one integrated ecommerce builder that helps businesses build their website in minutes without any coding knowledge,” Smartbiz says.

The platform allows anyone to create a website in minutes without coding knowledge. As an introductory offer*, there are no setup fees and changes can be made instantly without relying on technical help.

SmartBiz by Amazon has designed this model because many legacy brands spend weeks building websites and then struggle again every time they want to update something, which becomes costly and slows them down. 

This idea of putting control back in the hands of the business owner is central to Amazon-owned platform. It lets brands build pages, choose templates and customise their storefront according to their identity.

The SmartBiz by Amazon toolkit

While the website builder is the most visible part of SmartBiz by Amazon, the engine sits underneath. 

The platform integrates cataloging, payments, inventory, order management, returns, analytics and logistics into one system. It provides multiple ways to upload catalogs, add variants, create collections and format listings in SEO friendly structures. 

Interestingly, if a brand is already listed on Amazon, it can import its catalog in a single click. 

On the logistics front, SmartBiz by Amazon connects to Shiprocket and Ship with Amazon, and for brands that activate Buy with Amazon on selected products, faster checkout for customers through Amazon’s address import & fulfilment can also be handled through Amazon’s FBA network. This allows businesses to manage deliveries, track orders and align stock movement with reliable, Amazon-grade fulfilment where applicable.

Brands can use the dashboard to see best selling products and adjust manufacturing or sourcing accordingly. This helps companies manage demand more efficiently because they can see what is working and respond faster. 

For payments, the platform comes pre-integrated with Razorpay and has Amazon pay in the pipeline, which helps sellers with inbuilt payment support that handles acceptance, reconciliation and visibility without needing separate gateways. This creates a consistent checkout experience for customers and simplifies backend processes for sellers. 

SmartBiz by Amazon includes growth features as well. It offers integrations with Meta and Google pixels, Google Analytics, WhatsApp engagement tools and custom domain mapping.

According to Amazon’s years of experience in ecommerce, these elements are available from day one because they are essential for businesses that want to scale.

How HMT used SmartBiz by Amazon to modernise its reach

When HMT Watches came onto SmartBiz by Amazon, the brand needed clarity on demand, support in logistics and a streamlined way to manage cataloging.

Through SmartBiz by Amazon analytics, HMT Watches could see which products were resonating most with customers online. The platform helped the company identify top performing models, seasonal spikes and geographic preferences. Based on these insights, HMT aligned its manufacturing for some of its legacy designs that were attracting renewed interest, leading to a noticeable rise in orders.

Cataloging became easier too. HMT could upload variants, categorise models and present its catalog with consistency. The ability to create custom pages also allowed the brand to maintain its voice and tell its story in a style that stays true to its heritage.

Operationally, SmartBiz by Amazon brought order management, inventory and returns into a single view. With Ship with Amazon and Shiprocket integrations, deliveries became more predictable.

HMT Watched could also share tracking with customers and, if integrated with Buy with Amazon, show delivery promises and estimated dates on product pages.

What this means for India’s heritage and MSME ecosystem

The HMT Watches example is not about a single brand going online. It reflects a larger shift within India’s business landscape. 

For decades, MSMEs and heritage brands contributed significantly to India’s manufacturing and cultural identity. But digital commerce was often out of reach due to the cost and complexity associated with building and managing an online presence.

SmartBiz by Amazon is attempting to bring these businesses into the digital market without overwhelming them. The platform doesn’t replace marketplaces or traditional retail, instead it gives sellers a way to build their own storefronts, understand their customers, manage their operations and grow at their own pace. 

The result is that more small and mid sized businesses can now run ecommerce operations without needing specialised teams. They can test products, react to demand, improve customer experience and build direct relationships. This creates a pathway for heritage brands to remain relevant and for MSMEs to compete in a modern market. 

According to Bain & Company’s “How India Shops Online 2025” report, India’s e-retail market is currently around $60 billion in gross merchandise value, with the country now home to the world’s second largest base of online shoppers. 

Even with a recent consumption slowdown, Bain estimates that e-retail in India is on track to roughly triple to between $170 and $190 billion in GMV by 2030, powered by more shoppers coming online and new formats like quick commerce and social commerce becoming mainstream.

The broader ecommerce picture is just as strong. The Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) estimates that India’s overall ecommerce industry was worth about $125 billion in 2024 and could grow to roughly $345 billion by 2030, implying a compound annual growth rate of around 15%. 

IBEF also notes that online penetration of retail is expected to rise from 8% in 2024 to 14% by 2028, with most of the new shoppers coming from smaller cities.