Snapdeal to set up 'regional teams' to add local flavour to fashion segment

Company plans to have four regional teams with 500 employees this month

Snapdeal is setting up regional teams to bring local sellers to its e-commerce platform.

The Delhi-based online retailer is setting up four teams in the fashion segment that will be based in Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Fashion makes up around 35 per cent of Snapdeal’s sales and 55-60 per cent of transactions. In 2012, it comprised 21 per cent of sales and 30 per cent of transactions.

Snapdeal expects fashion to generate $2 billion revenue by 2015-16, up from the estimated $600 million in 2014-15.

“Our priority is to have variety on the platform, so we are setting up regional teams,” Amit Maheshwari, vice-president for the fashion business at Snapdeal, told Business Standard here. “There is a need to understand their (sellers’) problems in their language,” he added.

The team for western India has started work with 12 members and the company hopes to have all four teams in place this month. Snapdeal plans to place 500 employees in these teams, some of them new hires.

Maheshwari, in Bengaluru recently to attend the fashion week, said he was interviewing candidates for the southern team. “While hiring candidates for these teams we ask them if they know the local language,” he said.

Snapdeal has a seller business development team, but the localised teams will help vendors by sharing sales data analysis and by assisting them with cataloging.

Competitor Flipkart has strengthened its position in the segment by buying fashion e-tailer Myntra. Snapdeal is investing heavily in fashion retailing, which Maheshwari said, could become its largest segment in three years, overtaking electronics.

After acquiring Myntra, Flipkart appointed its co-founder Mukesh Bansal as head of the fashion division. Snapdeal was also hiring senior executives for the segment, Maheshwari said.

Maheshwari, a textile engineer with a degree from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, worked earlier for ITC and Reebok. He was part of a team at ITC that launched the John Player brand.

Timelines and names of the companies acquired

• Grabbon.com – June 2010 (acquisition brought on board two key senior leaders of Snapdeal – Sandeep Komaravelly (SVP Marketing) and Tony Navin (SVP – Electronics & Home)

• eSportsbuy.com – April 2012 (marketplace for sports products)

• Shopo.in – May 2013 (marketplace for Indian handicrafts)

• Doozton.com – May 2013 (platform for social recommendations for fashion products)

• Wishpicker – Dec 2014 (gifting recommendation technology firm)

Timeline and the funding amount raised

•  Indo US Venture Partners $2 million – September 2009

•  Nexus Venture Partners - $10 million – January 2011

•  Bessemer Venture Partners - $45 million – July 2011

•  Round led by eBay – amount undisclosed -  April 2013

•  Round led by eBay - $ 133.77 million – Feb 2014

•  Round by Temasek, Blackrock Inc., Myriad, Tybourne and Premji Invest - $ 105 million – May 2014

•  Personal investment by Ratan Tata – amount undisclosed – Aug 2014

•  Round led by Softbank - $627 million – Oct 2014

•  Snapdeal raised closed to $1 billion in the year 2014