Snapdeal to invest Rs 665 crore in mobile-only platform

MUMBAI, INDIA: While Snapdeal may have developed second thoughts about winding-up its website and going completely mobile, the e-commerce major nonetheless is investing big-time in mobile technologies.

In a bid to reach its target of one-million sellers, the company has announced investments of Rs 665 crore in Shopo, its’ mobile-only platform.

The team is confident of getting one million SMBs who cannot afford large commercial online marketplaces, on Shopo by 2016.

Sopho allows entrepreneurs to list their products by clicking pictures of their products, without submitting any documents and avoid long verification procedures. The icing on the cake is that they do not have to pay Snapdeal any commission for the sale.

Additionally, Shopo plans to directly connect buyers and sellers via its chat-based platform. It is also looking at offering SMBs help with logistics and payment gateways.

“We launched Shopo in mid-July and we already have 20,000 shops on the platform. The response we have got, only from word of mouth, is overwhelming,” Kunal Bahl, co-founder and CEO, Snapdeal, told PTI.

“Over the next two years, we will invest about $100 million in ramping up technology and brand building. We are also working on a community of Shopo angels to drive consumer engagement,” he said.

Inspired by Alibaba’s Taobao, Bahl said Shopo can look at revenues from avenues like advertising.

Part of the Alibaba Group, which is also an investor in Snapdeal, Taobao’s marketplace facilitates consumer- to-consumer (C2C) retail by providing a platform for small businesses and individual entrepreneurs to open online stores.