Snapdeal eyes over Rs 100 crore revenue from ad platform

Snapdeal expects to garner over Rs 100 crore in revenue from its ad platform that assists sellers in improving their brand visibility on the e-commerce platform.

Snapdeal has also announced a 50 per cent cut in ad rates for most of the categories, including fashion and electronics, applicable from today.

"... (the) self-service seller ads platform (was) launched 9 months ago ... During this time, over 10,000 sellers, 200 brands and agencies have used the ads solution and this number continues to grow," Snapdeal said in a statement.

It added that the ads platform will rake in Rs 100 crore in annual revenue for the company.

"As more and more sellers come on the platform, ad revenue will be a growing contributor to Snapdeal's profitability goal," it said.

Banner ads were launched nine months ago by Snapdeal to help sellers utilise prime real estate on the Snapdeal website, enhance their visibility, increase conversions, and build brand loyalty.

While the service was initially piloted with bigger brands, it was later opened to all sellers.

"Sellers are a crucial part of the market place ecosystem and with the launch of this innovative solution, we are enhancing visibility for our sellers significantly," Snapdeal Chief Technology Officer Rajiv Mangla said.

Vishal Chadha, Senior Vice President (Business) at Snapdeal, added that ads are a key revenue driver for Snapdeal's marketplace platform.

The company, which competes with Flipkart and Amazon India, hopes to hit profitability in the next two years as it undertakes a number of steps, including layoffs and moving away from non-core activities.