Will Snapdeal's bet on brand stores, mobile commerce pay off?

Snapdeal expects the recently launched 'brand stores' concept, which allows retailers to create their own store on the e-commerce major's website, to contribute 50 percent to its sales in the next 12 months.

The company that has set a target of Rs 600 crore revenue in the current fiscal is also bullish on mobile commerce and expects nearly half of the purchases on its site to be executed through the mobile platform in the next two years, an official said.

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"With brand stores, Snapdeal aims to be an enabler for the many local/offline retailers to reach out to the growing online shopping population. "Brands will be able to decide the look and feel of their page, customise product selection, manage promotions and exclusive launches," Snapdeal.com Founder and CEO Kunal Bahl said.

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While the brands will be able to sign up for free, Bahl added there would be a revenue-share model based on the products sold.

At present, Snapdeal has about 3,000 odd stores operating through 'brand stores'. The company is in talk with about 2,000 more brands who "should be onbroard soon". "We plans to have 10,000 brand stores in the next 12 months," he said.

Snapdeal sees a lot of opportunity in 'brand stores' and will continue to build on the concept and offer further innovations in it, Bahl added. He said, "Many brands, even the larger ones, do not have an e-commerce site. Some do not have the expertise to handle the back-end operations, such as logistics and payment. We will also help drive traffic to the sites." The company is also bullish about mobile commerce.

Bahl said, "20 percent of our traffic comes from mobiles-both the application and the mobile site. We believe mobile commerce will account for about 50 percent of total sales in the next two years."

PTI