Snapdeal customer services now in eight languages apart from Hindi, English

Snapdeal, which has reinvented itself as a value e-commerce company, said its customer care services are now available in eight Indian languages, in addition to Hindi and English.

The customer care team at Snapdeal is now staffed to speak to users in a language that the users are most comfortable with, and this includes Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, and Bengali.

The company also pointed out that Hinglish is also popular among its customers when it comes to speaking with customer service agents.

Support for additional languages comes ahead of the festive season starting early October with festivities continuing till January.

The growing popularity of online shopping amongst buyers from smaller Indian cities and towns is taking e-commerce into the country's hinterlands.

“The rise of Bharat is re-shaping India’s e-commerce landscape to make it more representative of India’s rich diversity. As more and more shoppers, including from smaller cities, gravitate towards e-commerce, they will increasingly expect customer services to be in their languages,” said Snapdeal spokesperson.

Currently, 83 per cent of Snapdeal customers prefer to converse in Hindi with customer services agents, and  14 per cent percent of Snapdeal customers choose to speak in local Indian languages.

As part of its efforts to make internet experiences simpler and more engaging, Snapdeal’s website and app are also available in eight Indian languages.

“Nearly a third of India's population does not understand English, leaving a major vacuum in the internet's framework to be addressed. Making Internet and support services available in local languages is critical to bringing India's "un-digitized" people online and making new online buyers feel at ease,” the spokesperson added.

The growing importance of vernacular languages in India’s online world is evident from the fact that spoken English is no longer the only criteria for call-center jobs.

Many of Snapdeal’s call center executives are from non-English speaking backgrounds and have been hired for their vernacular language skills. Snapdeal’s customer service centers employ people from all over the country, including from Punjab, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, UP, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Gujarat.

The growing footprint of e-commerce beyond the metros and Tier 1 cities is not only providing buyers and sellers more options but is also creating more employment opportunities in Bharat.