Ankit Infotek had operated for two decades on Bengaluru's SP Road, a 1,500-store electronics market. Its second-generation owner, Vikas Jhawar, saw a way to make the store's expertise travel: the shop launched e-commerce while continuing to build PCs for Twitch streamers and cryptocurrency miners and to configure machines for AI workloads.

The online operation was not just a catalogue. Staff used WhatsApp Business to answer questions, and four years after launch, half of the store's orders came through its website. Jhawar told Rest of World that most sales could be online within another five to ten years.

Four years after launch, 50% of orders came through the website, alongside niche demand for streamer, cryptocurrency-miner and AI-workload PCs.

The physical store had expertise that could differentiate an online offer.

Chat support carried the shop's advice into digital buying.

A niche in demanding PC builds made the store discoverable beyond its street.

A specialist retailer can shift online without discarding its edge: keep difficult product expertise and add fast digital advice, ordering and support.

The result was a hybrid retailer rather than a forced choice between the bazaar and the web. By the reported visit, online orders were already 50% of the mix, giving Ankit Infotek a measured path from local electronics counter to broader digital sales.

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  1. Bengaluru’s tech market SP Road has one foot in the radio age, another in the drone era - Rest of World restofworld.org