Snapdeal acquired Exclusively on luxury path, high-end homes next on the cards

Exclusively, the high-end luxury fashion e-tailer acquired by Snapdeal in February, is planning to become a horizontal player for luxury goods as part of its diversification process.

It is starting with home décor and, in a few months, would get into high-end homes among other categories. This is in line with Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl’s ambition of creating a $1-billion business out of Exclusively in three years. At the end of the current year, it is aiming to clock about $100-million gross merchandise value (GMV).

Speaking to  Business Standard , Sanjuy Guleria, general manager,business, Exclusively, said, “We are starting with home décor as the first category, while more will be added in the coming months. After acquisition by Snapdeal, we have been clear about widening the opportunity of our product offering to make it an online luxury mall.''

Furniture will be part of home decor on the site. It is starting with about 10 major brands and it would grow threefold over a period of time. Even high-end international brands are being planned by the company.

As the scale and scope of business is going up for Exclusively, Snapdeal is also pumping in fresh money specifically for the business. Guleria did not elaborate on the amount of money being pumped in.

The home décor market of the country is estimated to be about $ 20 billion and online home retail is emerging as a major driver of future growth within the segment, growing at a faster rate compared to other e-commerce categories.Soon after Snapdeal acquired Exclusively, rival Flipkart bought Myntra, a fashion portal. Margins are high in the fashion and luxury segments. “We are not into discount-based selling, so there is cost that is being saved. Additionally, we are being able to leverage on Snapdeal’s extensive delivery network, which is resulting into greater reach for our brands,” Guleria pointed out.