Shopclues sees FY17 sales up 11%, losses down by 13%

Firm was among the hardest hit e-commerce players due to demonetisation drive last November

After more than doubling sales for two consecutive years, online marketplace Shopclues saw its revenue growth stall in the year to March 2017, growing by just 11 per cent to Rs 180.3 crore from 161.4 crore in the previous fiscal.

This came along with a 13 per cent reduction in losses which stood at Rs 332.6 crore in FY17 compared to 383 crore in the previous year, according to documents sourced from Tofler. The drastic reduction in growth was in all likelihood caused by the company’s need to cut its losses.

In the documents the company filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, auditors noted that the net worth of Shopclues had completely eroded, with cumulative losses amounting to Rs 871 crore.

“The management considers it appropriate to prepare the accounts on a going concern basis in view of the committed support from the holding company as evidenced through the letter of financial support,” the document added. 

Clues Network Inc, the US incorporated holding firm is also the vehicle to raise funds from investors such as Tiger Global.

Excluding the funding Shopclues raised in its undisclosed Series E round, the company has raised a little over $138 million (or Rs 891 crore at today’s exchange rate) so far, according to Crunchbase. The last round of equity capital the company raised was in January 2016, after which it has only raised Rs 50 crore in debt from Innoven Capital.

The disclosures said that Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd (BCCL), the owners of Times of India has invested a Rs 97.5-crore ($15 million) in the firm..

Shopclues was among the hardest hit e-commerce players because of the government’s demonetisation initiative last November. Dealing with largely unbranded wares sold to customers in Tier 2 and 3 towns, the company suffered a large drop in sales as their customers were not able to pay for products in cash.