Himanshu Chakrawarti named Snapdeal president for value commerce strategy

The e-commerce firm filed adraft red herring prospectus on Tuesday with the securities regulator for its IPO.

E-commerce platform Snapdeal has appointed Himanshu Chakrawarti as its president, firming up its leadership after filing for an initial public offering (IPO) on Tuesday.

Chakrawarti will lead various functions at Snapdeal to drive its value commerce strategy and steer various growth-related and operational initiatives. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Unlimited Fashion, Arvind Lifestyle Brands’ value-fashion retail chain. V-Mart Retail acquired Unlimited Fashion earlier this year, adding its nearly 75 stores in West and South India to its national footprint.

At Unlimited Fashion, Himanshu set the strategic direction and oversaw entire operations including curating brands and assortments, guidance on product designs, and pricing strategy. He also led the direct integration of over 75 stores with top e-commerce platforms and enabled real-time inventory visibility and fulfillment.

Before Unlimited Fashion, he was the CEO of Hi-Care Services, which was backed by the leading private equity fund, True North. As the CEO of Essar-owned The MobileStore from 2011-2015, he had a ringside view of India’s retail market for smartphones.

“We are delighted to welcome Himanshu to the Snapdeal family. He brings an in-depth understanding of value retail and Omni-channel distribution operations in India. Additionally, his success with building brands will add immense value to Snapdeal's Power Brands program,” said Rohit Bansal, co-founder and COO, Snapdeal.

“Himanshu’s experience in building teams, processes, and businesses will be invaluable as we continue to deepen our capabilities to serve value-conscious buyers across Bharat,” said Kunal Bahl, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Snapdeal.

An alumnus of IIT Kanpur and IIM Bangalore, Chakrawarti has more than 30 years of experience in the retail sector and building lifestyle brands.

“It is a great time to build a contemporary retail ecosystem that celebrates the aspirations and meets the needs of India’s vast value segment and is designed to serve them across both digital and physical channels. I am excited about the opportunity that lies ahead at Snapdeal. I am delighted to join an exceptionally talented and experienced team at Snapdeal,” said Chakrawarti.

Snapdeal recently named Priyaranjan Kumar as vice president and business head, and made key additions earlier this year, including Girish Koppad as Vice President and Head of Technology and Saurabh Bansal as chief merchandising officer, who returned to Snapdeal for his second stint.

The firm filed its draft red herring prospectus on Tuesday with the securities regulator for its IPO, which will comprise a fresh issue of equity shares worth up to Rs 1,250 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 30.77 million equity shares by existing shareholders.