Snapdeal launches omni-channel platform

06 Oct '15

3 min read

One of India’s e-commerce majors, Snapdeal, has announced the launch of its omni-channel platform. A global first by an online marketplace, the platform integrates offline and online retail channels to provide a seamless and differentiated shopping experience to customers, it said in a statement.

Customers shopping on Snapdeal will be able to enjoy the convenience of online discovery and ordering along with faster hyper-local fulfillment through this platform,. Omni Channel will allow them to access value added and expert services as a part of their purchase, including demonstration, installation, activation or returns at a store near them.

Snapdeal’s omni channel platform will power an ecosystem of leading brands, large format retailers (LFRs), small businesses and technology start-ups. The first categories to go live on omni-channel will be mobile phones in partnership with The Mobile Store (TMS), automobile tyres with Michelin, invertors and batteries in partnership with Luminous and fashion products with Shoppers Stop.

“This platform will blur the lines between offline and online retail, demonstrating that both channels can act as gateways to each other. Our newest addition to Snapdeal’s digital commerce ecosystem, the Janus omnichannel platform is backed by our deep understanding of consumer behaviour and partnerships with leading retailers, brands and service providers across the country. The synergies between online and offline commerce in India will be unlocked like never before. We are confident that our customers will find our omni channel offerings to be very intuitive, making their shopping experience extremely convenient,” Kunal Bahl, Co-founder and CEO, Snapdeal said at the launch.

Various studies have shown that consumers switch between online and offline before making purchase decisions. Seventy seven per cent of consumers browse in stores before making a purchase online and 55 per cent consumers conduct on-the-go mobile research before making a purchase in-store. In certain categories of products like mobile phones, majority customers follow up their online purchase with a visit to the store for accessing related services like data transfer, screen protection etc. These trends clearly indicate a need to create channels for customers to seamlessly access the benefits of both online and offline to create a delightful buying experience the statement said.

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