Snapdeal opens 6 logistics hubs to ramp up delivery ops

Ecommerce major Snapdeal has set up six mega logistics hubs across Delhi-NCR and other cities to strengthen its warehousing and delivery operations ahead of the festive season.

The new centres, 3 in Delhi-NCR and one each in Lucknow, Hyderabad and Kolkata, will allow Snapdeal to deliver products faster as it competes head-on against rivals like Flipkart and Amazon. Snapdeal did not disclose investment details.

With a total of 1 million sq ft warehousing space, these centres are designed as integrated facilities that combine warehousing, quality control and transportation to aid sellers, Snapdeal said in a statement.

All processes — from receipt of stocks, quality inspection, preparation for dispatch and return handling — would be available to sellers under one roof. This will reduce costs for sellers and offer them better visibility and control of their stocks.

The six new centres are owned by Vulcan Express, a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Snapdeal.

With the addition of these new centres, Vulcan now owns 10 warehouses. The other centres include those in Jaipur, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Chennai.

Snapdeal has other third-party warehouse centres as well, operated for it under SD+. There are 69 SD+ centres, including all owned and managed by Vulcan and run by third-party logistics partners.

“Super-fast deliveries are an essential part of the Snapdeal experience. The new warehouses are located in cities where demand is growing exponentially and will allow our sellers to hold inventory closer to their customers,” Snapdeal Chief Customer Experience Officer Jayant Sood said.

Snapdeal had recently said it now ships 80 per cent of its orders through the SD+ fulfilment centres.

Ecommerce biggies gear up for freedom from low sales this Independence Day

The Independence Day long weekend is hardly a week away. And ecommerce leaders Amazon and Flipkart have started stocking ammo for the upcoming sale.

Etailers are expected to go all out and enter the discount war to woo buyers. From increasing ad spends to funding deep discounts, online marketplaces are prepared to do everything in their power.

According to Harminder Sahni, MD at Wazir Advisors,

“This time, Flipkart and Amazon will pull out all stops. However, brands across the board have been asking marketplaces to cut discounts, as they don’t want to hurt their offline business. It will be interesting to see how the marketplaces manage this conflict with brands.”

Time to activate sluggish sales

There’s significant drop in online sales in the last two quarters. The sales of Flipkart and Snapdeal dropped down drastically and Amazon’s growth slowed down.

FDI ruling is partially to be blamed for this, as etailers were unable to advertise freely and offer deep discounts. But the real blame lies with etailers that are heavily dependent on discounts.

The new FDI policies implemented in March this year had forced ecommerce firms to keep discounts on hold. Not for long, though. Amazon and Flipkart both found a way to shower discounts and hosted few low-key sale events.

But the Independence Day event will be the first festive sale after March. Next month i.e. September, the great Indian festive season will start.

Flipkart VS Amazon, yet again

As it has been in the last couple of years, the 2016 edition of festive sales will also be Flipkart VS Amazon. Snapdeal is nowhere near.

Out of the two, the pressure is high on Flipkart. Amazon is cash rich whereas Flipkart is cash poor. If not for the FDI guidelines, the American etailer wouldn’t have experienced sales slump.

“This festive season is make or break for us. There is pressure to cut costs, but the most important thing is now to get growth back to an acceptable level,”revealed a Flipkart manager.

It will be interesting to see how the Indian etailer will manage to cut costs and spend on ads & discounts. It will be even more interesting to see how the online marketplaces get away with giving heavy discounts. Do we see fresh lawsuits against ecommerce firms coming?

Can Shopclues overthrow Flipkart & its ecommerce fashion glory?

The face of online fashion changed overnight with Flipkart acquiring 70% of this online retail segment. The online marketplace has a clothing and lifestyle section of its own. It acquired online in vogue mega star Myntra in 2014 and now Jabong.

With maximum control over ecommerce fashion, Flipkart has more bargaining chips than any other fashion etailer. This will force online sellers to adhere to all the terms Flipkart dictates, stated Sreedhar Prasad, Partner – Management Consulting at KPMG India.

This leads one to question the survival capacity of other etailers who are mere specs in comparison.

Can Shopclues put its foot in the door with a multiplying seller base?

Shopclues is a small fry compared to the ecommerce leaders, Flipkart. However, it is looking to change that through vast consumer offerings. The online marketplace is India’s first and largest managed marketplace and it wants to compete in the big leagues of online fashion.

The etailer is serious about taking on the giants of ecommerce and is prepping by building its seller strength. 60,000 new online sellers are already registered under its fashion category and expected to expand to 1,50,000 by December.

When people think fashion they will think Shopclues!

“We’re ramping up our offerings in unprecedented ways, be it in terms of the kind of products, the brands or the number of merchants on-board. ShopClues is on its way to be the online platform when consumers think of fashion,” saidLifestyle director at Shopclues, Dharmender Khanna.

He also claimed Shopclues wants to offer the best of India’s products from all its corners at reasonable prices. And, Shopclues is looking at cementing its position as the fashion destination choice for everyone interested in affordable fashion.

To meet and exceed style expectations, the Shopclues’ fashion platform continues to add fresh fashion flavour through new and popular brands like American Tourister, Puma, Maxima, Wrangler and Lotto among 250 other brands.

That’s not all, the marketplace also:

• sets up exclusive stores ccording to seasons and festivals
• hosts a ‘Sunday Flea Market‘

Shopclues is also a part of the ‘Make in India‘ iniative under which it uses Indimarket’s help to offer local craftsmen a platform to sell their produce.

Bursting the ecommerce bubble!

Shopclues wants the title for ultimate online fashion destination. But does it have what it takes to beat larger etailers like Amazon, Snapdeal, Abof, Ajio, Tata Cliq and the rest? Even if the digital shopping platform rises above these competitors, it still has the Flipkart-Myntra-Jabong fashion triangle to defeat.

Right now Shopclues fashion is in the nascent stage. It has a lot more growing up to do before it can cause some serious damage for its rivals. But with so many onboard so quickly, you can definitely say it’s off to a good start!

What ails the online fashion sector? Shut downs camouflage high growth figures

Fashion stores online have always had a rocky road. Even though fashion as a category holds 30% of the total share of Indian ecommerce, increasing number of exclusive fashion companies are closing operations. Currently valued at $2 billion, the fashion industry is expected to hit $20 billion and overtake electronics, which holds 51% of the ecommerce sales.

Jabong has had its share of bad times. The company, which was recently sold to Flipkart – owned Myntra, has been hunting for a seller for a long time. It faced devaluation and came close to a shut down.

‘We are closed’

The list of companies that have closed either temporarily or for good include: Freecultr, Zovi, and Fashionara. Freecultr co-founder Sandeep Singh denies a permanent closure and attributes the inactive website to technical glitches. Singh says,

“We are in a transition and a team is looking into it.”

Zovi directs shoppers to its stores in Amazon and Flipkart. CEO Manish Chopra says,

“At present we are not selling directly via the portal but we are selling through our marketplace partners.”

Fighting for monopoly

Flipkart is keen on becoming market leader in fashion. Towards this, the company acquired fashion portal Myntra in 2014. Now it has taken over Jabong as well. These strategic acquisitions have put 70% of the industry share in Flipkart’s lap.

Shopclues is not left behind in the race. The company is expanding its offerings and is holding festival specific sales to attract the buyer base.

So what is the problem?

Money is the main pain area for all ecommerce companies. Second and later rounds of funding are becoming scarce. Harish Bahl, CEO of Smile Group, which has stake in FashionandYou.com says,

“New funding rounds have been a challenge for all players in the space and Fashion and You is no exception.”

Having a wider pool of sellers and brands can help diversify the portfolio. Following Shopclues’ lead, companies should also look at how best they can utilise seasons (sales of boots and water-proof cosmetics during monsoon, jackets and shrugs during winter, cotton and open sandals during summer etc) and festivals to aid sales.

Shopclues alerts Online Sellers about delayed returns due to heavy rains & political unrest!

Many states in the country are experiencing torrential downpours, this season. The heavy rains have resulted in water logging, landslides and floods. This, in turn, has affected Shopclues’ reverse shipping process. The online marketplace made sure to apologise and inform its online sellers about the same via email on Wednesday.

What should you expect?

Shopclues said returns to origin (RTO) will be delayed by at least 1 week since their shipping systems have been affected by a great extent.

As for those who are expecting returns from Jammu & Kashmir will also face delays. Shopclues stated through their email that the area, particularly Srinagar, has been facing political disturbances for the past 15 to 20 days. The overflowing of river Tavi has resulted in a flood as well, adding to their shipping troubles. As a result, all RTO deliveries from Jammu & Kashmir areas have been blocked.

Shopclues sellers who have returns due from UP and Delhi/NCR will also experience RTO delays. UP’s unannounced Kanwar Yatra has set off a state of disruption throughout the state and the NCR area. All kind of vehicular movement on NH-58 has been terminated. This means Shopclues’ courier partners are also unable to function and process shipments.