Pulling Snapdeal into a new controversy, we got the news today that Mumbai-based Century Textiles and Industry Pvt. Ltd has filed a case in Bombay High Court on Snapdeal for trademark infringement of one of its products. Not so long back, Kunal Bahl, CEO of Snapdeal had said that it will overtake Flipkart in sales. Since then, Amazon India has overtaken Snapdeal in terms of sales.

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Is Snapdeal a sinkingship?
PullingSnapdealintoanewcontroversy,we gotthe newstodaythatMumbai-basedCenturyTextiles
and IndustryPvt.Ltd hasfiledacase inBombayHigh Courton Snapdeal fortrademarkinfringementof
one of itsproducts.Notso longback, Kunal Bahl,CEO of Snapdeal hadsaidthat itwill overtake Flipkart
insales.Since then,AmazonIndiahasovertakenSnapdeal intermsof sales.
What usedto be a two-horse race betweenFlipkartandSnapdeal inthe $12 billionIndiane-commerce
markethas turnedoutas a two-horse race betweenFlipkartandAmazon.Snapdeal’smarketshare
droppedto14% from19% a year ago while Amazon’sgainedfrom14% to 24% inthe same period.
WhereasFlipkartremainsthe leaderdespite afall inmarketsharesto37% from43%. Snapdeal,which
movedtoa marketplace model fouryearsago,isnow playingcatch up game withitstwomain
competitors.MoreverotherplayerssuchasPaytmand Shopcluesare followingcloselybehindSnapdeal.

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What wentwrong?
Back in 2015, Snapdeal andotherplayerswere reportedlyburningupto$40 millionamonthon
discounts,customeracquisitionandtottingupgrossmerchandise value(GMV),orthe value of total
shipments.Those deepdiscountsoftentranslateintosteeplosses.
Snapdeal’scompetitorshave tackledthe murkyperiodwithdeeperpockets.Amazonhaspumpedin$5
billionwhileFlipkarthasraised$3 billioninfunds.Incontrast,Snapdeal hassofar raised$2 billion.Even
afteritsvaluationwasdowngraded,FlipkartoutscoresSnapdeal invaluation.Snapdeal,ownedand
operatedbyJasperInfotech,isvaluedaround$6.5 billioncomparedwithFlipkart’s$10billion.
AmazonIndiastole Snapdeal’scharm withbetterquality,service deliveryandresponse tocustomer
grievances.Othershadbeenengagedtomore ‘avant-garde’indissectingthe makeover.Sreedhar

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Prasad,partner,e-commerce,KPMGsays,“E-commerce makeoverhasto be done once intwo years,as
purchasesare triggerbased.”
Image courtesy:economictimes
Snapdeal revamp
Snapdeal insiststhatthe rebrandingisbringingbackresults.Thisfestive season,itclockeditshighest
single daysale eversince launchsix yearsago,shipping1.67 millionproductsin16 hours.It claimsthat
traffichas increased20%and there isan upswinginordersandconversionrates.
Evenso, itstill lagscompetitionbehindFlipkartandAmazon.Accordingtosources,onmostdays during
the firstfestive sales,Flipkart shippedabout3.5lakh unitsa day,Amazon2.7 lakhand Snapdeal 1.8lakh.
In the currentsale,Snapdeal saysithas shipped11millionunitstotalingaroundRs1,700 crore while
Amazonsaysit has shipped15millionunits.
Bahl has focusedtobringin more fashionapparel andgeneral merchandise sothatitdoesn’talways
have to relyonlyonconsumerelectronicsforsales.Snapdeal will spend$100 milliontobuildthis
categorywhere Fashionandapparel istoutto be a $110-130 billionmarketoffering30-40% margins.
Snapdeal facing tight competition
Unlike the US and China,the e-commerce space inIndiaiscrowded.Snapdeal’sbiggercompetitor
continue toinfuse funds,FlipkartisreportedyintalkswithWalmartStores.Snapdeal hasitstaskcut out
and itsrebrandinghasto be backedby effective productassortment,selection,deliveryandcustomer-
experience.
Can Snapdeal make acome-backto beingone of the beststartupstoriesinthe country?Share your
opinionswithus.