The CEO of Snapdeal, Himanshu Chakrawarti, anticipates a positive year ahead for retail and e-commerce enterprises, attributing this outlook to the robustness of the Indian economy, increased demand across diverse categories, and momentum from semi-urban areas.
“As we are seeing currently, our economy is in a very good shape and all aspects of the business, specifically the categories that we operate in, which is in the in disposable income categories… I think we’re going to see a significant boost-up next year,” Chakrawarti told PTI.
He made these remarks during the Digital Acceleration & Transformation Expo (DATE with Tech).
“We are seeing green shoots come through even in the semi-urban areas and with the tailwind that we have, I think both retail and e-commerce should see a fairly good year in 2024,” Chakrawarti said.
Regarding Snapdeal’s expansion strategies, the head of the e-commerce platform expressed the intention to explore avenues for reaching a wider audience in rural areas and encouraging them to make online purchases.
“And there’s a lot of effort that we are making predominantly in the voice and the vernacular space. That is one area where we are going to see a lot of innovation that we will carry out for the Tier-2 and beyond audiences, as we bring technology to them,” he said.
The company is also exploring methods to encourage more customers to choose digital payment methods.
“The second part which we are working on is to how to convert a lot of them (users) from cash-on-delivery to digital payments. With government’s initiatives that we’ve seen and the amount of digital penetration, it is something that we are working on…to increase the digital payments penetration,” Chakrawarti said.
Regarding the possibility of an IPO for Snapdeal, Chakrawarti stated that the company will assess how to further capitalize on the business “at the right moment,” whether it be through the public market or through private means.
“But having said that, our preference has always been for the public market… to go public. So at the opportune moment, when it is right and we feel it is, and when we are ready for it, we will be looking at it,” he said.
Regarding the funding downturn in the startup ecosystem, Chakrawarti is of the opinion that there is an ample supply of capital for ventures that prioritize sound business fundamentals.
“I don’t think there’s a lack of capital availability. What has happened is that the capital is going to businesses which are working on generating revenues and profits, and focusing on basics of business not just growth and customer acquisitions… which in any case is what should have been,” he said.
Investors are currently scrutinizing these aspects closely, and startups that prioritize fundamental business principles will encounter no difficulties.
“There is enough capital available in the market,” he said.
