Online Stock Trading Platforms In India: Who’s Thriving & Who’s Striving

India is home to the world’s largest population, 1.4 Bn, but the number of investors in the country’s stock market has been historically low. Of late, things changed for the better, as the National Stock Exchange (NSE) announced that the number of unique direct investors (going by PAN) reached 80 Mn (8 Cr) for the first time, accounting for 50 Mn (5 Cr) unique households or nearly 17% of total Indian households. As of September 2023, India recorded around 129.7 Mn (12.97 Cr) demat accounts, primarily due to attractive equity returns and the ease of opening such accounts.

India introduced online trading in February 2002, but according to a 2019 RBI survey, only 8% of Indian households used to invest in shares and mutual funds. Stock market experts have attributed the recent surge to increased internet and smartphone adoption, growing digital literacy and, most importantly, the rising popularity of online stock trading platforms among retail investors in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Consider this. India had 510 Mn internet users as of September 2023, while the value of digital transactions jumped by 58% between FY22 and FY23, according to a PwC report. Primed by the digital muscle, retail holding in NSE-listed companies skyrocketed nearly fivefold to 8.75% by September this year, up from 1.85% three years ago. Similarly, the number of shares held by retail investors surged from 91.5 Lakh in September 2020 to an impressive 4.33 Cr by December 7, 2023.

Online Trading Platforms: Then And Now

The initial phase spanning 2000-2010 saw a host of digitally enabled retail brokerage firms enter the market. Among them were ICICIdirect, Sharekhan, AnandRathi, Geojit, Indiabulls, Religare, Kotak Securities, Motilal Oswal, Reliance Money, IndiaInfoline and IDBI Paisabuilder.

The digital wave that followed post-2010 took a new turn with the emergence of user-friendly mobile trading apps like Zerodha, Upstox, Paytm Money, 5Paisa and Groww. These discount brokerages have become all the more attractive due to their zero/low commissions, the techvantages they offer for cutting-edge analytics and their zippy performances minus any lag. With the lone exception of Zerodha, India’s most successful bootstrapped startup, the other four mobile trading apps raised $488 in total funding.

When businesses closed en masse and millions lost their jobs with the onset of Covid-19 in early 2020 (CY), these stay-home small investors turned to dozens of low-cost digital trading platforms for steady income generation. According to SEBI data, a monthly average of 26 Lakh demat accounts were opened in FY22 compared to an average of four lakh in FY20.

The new retail investors entering the stock market were young, mobile-savvy and often hailed from non-metros, which were not the traditional bastions of stock market privilege. In brief, a journey that started unostentatiously in 1855, under a banyan tree in Mumbai, was literally held in one’s palm during the pandemic years and after. It was the best of times for mobile-based discount brokerages, closely followed by other digital players in the space.

But great opportunities almost always result in pitched business battles for supremacy.

By September 2023, Groww, Upstox and Zerodha were locked in fierce competition to bring the maximum number of active traders into their fold. Groww emerged as a surprise winner in the race over Zerodha, a profitable fintech unicorn and an undisputable industry leader.

Going by NSE data, Groww onboarded 6.63 Mn active investors by September end, followed by Zerodha with 6.48 Mn users, while the total number of active traders in India stood at 32.56 Mn at the time. Groww’s market share stood at 20.35%, closely followed by Zerodha at 19.9%. These two firms were followed by AngelOne, Upstox and ICICIdirect (part of ICICI Securities).

Interestingly, traditional brokerages have not been ousted by new-age mobile trading apps even now. According to Inc42’s latest consumer sentiment survey jointly conducted with Clootrack, first-phase players like Angel One, HDFC Securities and Sharekhan seem to be gaining significant traction as they adapt to changing consumer preferences.

Groww leads the consumer sentiment survey with a score of 9.8 on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 represents the best experience. It is followed by Upstox with 8.2 and Angel One (formerly Angel One Broking) with 6.9.

The survey analysed 25K+ user reviews on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store between January 1 and November 22, 2023, and found that ease of use was the most critical parameter that topped consumers’ preference list while choosing an online/mobile stock trading platform.

What Lifted Groww To The Top Of Customer Sentiment Survey

Groww and 5Paisa are relatively young players in the mobile/digital stock trading space. Both were launched in 2016, a year before the latest entrant, Paytm Money. In contrast, other players like Kotak Securities (since 1994), Angel One Broking (since 1996, rebranded as Angel One in 2021), ICICIdirect (since 2000), Sharekhan (since 2000), HDFC Securities (since 2000), Zerodha (since 2010) and Upstox (since 2012) have been operating for decades or more.

Although Groww is relatively new, certain factors have worked in its favour to help it captivate the biggest active user base In India. Here is a quick look at the developments in 2023 that catapulted Groww to the top, while Zerodha was pushed down the list.

Fewer Tech Glitches During Trading

Despite its current ranking, Zerodha is pitted as the most formidable rival to Groww, but the former’s customer centricity took a hit due to technical glitches, pushing it down to the seventh spot with a score of 2.7. According to media reports, Zerodha’s flagship trading platform, Kite, and innovative investment tool, smallcase (bundles up orders for upto 50 stocks/ETFs into a single portfolio), drew flak as technical issues hurt customer services.

Between 2021 and 2023, Zerodha faced as many as 15 technical glitches during trading, leading to customer complaints. The infographic below features its technology woes in 2023, although none of the top three platforms, including Groww, faced these challenges.

Trading Made Easy For Rookies, Casual Players

Technology is a critical differentiator in every industry segment and online stock trading is no exception. Therefore, incumbents and new-age players are trying to up their game by pushing techvantages and ensuring customer hand-holding. Among the top three players leading our survey plus Zerodha (included here as it is a top-rung business with a $3.6 Bn valuation), Groww has adopted a different strategy to build its retail investment community.

While other platforms cater to rookies and seasoned investors alike, Groww primarily looks at beginners and infrequent casual players, offering them a variety of technology tools to make stock trading easy. Essentially, the platform converts non-traders into serious professionals and targets an unserved/underserved market.

Additionally, it has democratised stock trading by educating its customers and demystifying the financial services sector. The brokerage firm has amassed 2.11 Mn (21.1 Lakh) YouTube subscribers compared to Zerodha’s fewer than 6 Lakh followers on that channel.

Zero Pricing, Diversified Investments

As India is a price-sensitive market, zero fees for opening trading accounts and zero AMC for demat accounts encourage retail investors to join Groww. Although Upstox and Angel One charge nothing for opening trading accounts and Zerodha offers free equity delivery, their customers must pay additional charges for demat account management.

Besides, Groww is the only player providing call & trade service at zero pricing. To attract investors, it further ensures diversified investment options such as digital gold and US stocks.

Digital Stock Trading In India: The 2024 Outlook & Beyond

According to Inc42’s Q3 2023 (July-September) Fintech Report, the overall fintech market size in India is estimated to reach $2.1 Tn by 2030, with investment tech expected to hit $74 Bn+, from $9.2 Bn+ in 2022. Analysts further predict that a new breed of individual investors – a combination of millennials and Gen Zers – will continue to explore the retail investment space, especially in a bull market.

Retail ownership in the stock market may get a substantial boost due to demographic dividends, as 24.8% of the Indian population will be in the 20-34 age group by 2030 and more than 50% will be working.

Besides, India is set to emerge as the third-largest economy in the next five years, which will likely encourage the cult of structured equity investments and more exposure to common stock. The exponential growth of India’s burgeoning internet and mobile economy will further bolster the online and on-mobile reach of a pan-India audience never exposed to stock trading.

Given these developments, the Indian brokerage industry and its many tech-driven, disruptive business models will continue to thrive in the coming years.

On a more granular level, one can anticipate a reshuffling of industry leadership. Although Zerodha trails other new-age players and incumbents in consumer popularity, its game-changing saga is far from over, going by its hardcore business performance. Besides its impressive valuation as a bootstrapped unicorn, Zerodha’s operating revenue grew 37% to INR 6,832.8 Cr in FY23 from INR 4,977.3 Cr in the previous year. It currently accounts for 20% of NSE’s total trading volume.

In contrast, Groww recorded INR 1,277 Cr in operating revenue last fiscal, while Upstox claimed INR 1K Cr for the same year. (Inc42 could not find Upstox’s filing with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs).

Then again, new-age mobile apps will face tough challenges from incumbents like Angel One, HDFC Securities, Sharekhan and ICICIdirect. To attract retail investors in hordes, the typical stronghold of younger businesses, traditional stock brokerage firms have gone digital, diversified their financial services and developed all-in-one platforms for multicategory investments. Thanks to their innovative products and competitive pricing, older players are no longer considered the laggards, to be written off sooner than later.

For instance, Angel One has developed an AI system called ARQ designed to help people with investments and meet financial goals. HDFC Securities offers a unique blend of AI, social and financial services for stock search, price tracking and trading. ICICI Securities is also looking to build AI-based tools to help investors.

The stock trading market across the country is also undergoing a significant change in post-Covid times. The sudden and explosive boom in retail investment gradually shrank as the situation normalised and jobs and incomes returned. The percentage of retail investors in NSE turnover dipped to 40.7% in FY22 from 45% in FY21 and fell further to 36.5% in FY23. If they return to traditional savings tools due to market volatility or the lack of net increase, it can pose a massive challenge to digital brokerage firms that have been doing a roaring business until now. Worse still, a drop in retail traction will inevitably lead to high customer acquisition costs and, consequently, a drop in margins.

Full-service broking firms may not suffer, though, as most retail investors keen to turn ‘pro’ will approach them for long-term value-added services. However, market analysts are not anticipating an impending slowdown. Many think the stock market will see a turnaround in 2024 after a correction period. Also, several IPOs are expected to be lined up, thus triggering fresh interest from new retail investors.

Over the years, digital stock-trading platforms have democratised access to wealth creation. Therefore, new and diversified investment formats will likely flourish unless young and liberalised investment communities across India want to return to old, restrictive money shackles.

[Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal]