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Jabong.com’s revenue soared 50 times in 2012-13, a period when the company also cut its losses fourfold. During 2012-13, the net revenue of Jabong, the fashion portal operating under the name Xerion Retail Pvt Ltd, rose to Rs 202 crore from Rs 4 crore in 2011-12, data from Registrar of Companies show.
For 2012-13, Jabong reported a net loss of Rs 16 lakh, compared with a loss of Rs 67 lakh in the previous financial year.
The company hasn’t filed its earnings for 2013-14. For 2013-14, relatively bigger companies such as Flipkart and Amazon saw a rise in losses. While Flipkart’s loss doubled to Rs 400 crore, Amazon’s net loss stood at Rs 320 crore.
When contacted, Jabong co-founder Praveen Sinha said the company’s focus on the fashion segment has helped it increase business, as well as margins. He didn’t comment on the company’s revenue.
“We have stuck to fashion and that has worked in our favour. We are always looking to escalate our business. One thing that is intact with our road map is whether the plans are sustainable,” he said.
He added the Indian e commerce sector was still evolving and it might take a couple of years for the company to turn profitable.
Earlier, Jabong had announced plans to go public. According to estimates, Jabong, which started operations in 2012, is valued at $450-500 million.
It has about 1,000 brands and generates annual sales of $300 million (gross merchandise value). Experts say the core focus of the two-year old venture has kept the it financially sound. “Every company has its own strategies; in the past 12 months, fashion retail has seen the highest growth. Also, the combination of a marketplace model and inventory usually does better than marketplace alone,” said Arvind Singhal of Technopak.
According to a Technopak report, the $2.3-billion Indian e-retail market is expected to swell to $32 billion by 2020 and account for three per cent of the overall retail sector in the country.
| Sticking to fashion retail |
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