E-commerce major Snapdeal has pumped in $300 million (about Rs 1,990 crore) over the last 18 months to strengthen its supply chain and logistics and facilitate the increase in shipment volumes.

The city-based firm has seen 1.9 times increase in shipment volumes from 1.29 lakh daily shipments last year to 2.5 lakh this year.

“We have seen a significant increase of 1.9 times in shipment volumes. This is on account of increase in assortment on Snapdeal from 12 million to 35 million over the year. We have also expanded our seller base which helped increase shipments,” Snapdeal Chief Customer Experience Officer Jayant Sood told PTI.

He added that reports by PwC and RedSeer Consulting suggest that Snapdeal’s promised delivery time is the shortest across India.

“The number of sellers on our platform has increased three fold from 1,00,000 at the beginning of 2015 to more than 3,00,000 in 2016… We have invested $300 million towards logistics and customer experience,” he said.

He added that the company has 2 million sq ft of warehousing space across 63 sites and 45 cities.

Sood said the seller expansion has also led to a huge increase in the goods available on its platform.

“Unlike other competing marketplaces, which have their own sellers under various arrangements, we have no such conflicting interests. This makes Snapdeal more attractive for sellers,” he said.

He said the company has seen 60 per cent month-on-month increase in FMCG sales, while the books category grew by 300 per cent. Also, there is a strong increase in uptake in the home decor category.

“This blend of expansion of high frequency categories drives high repeat usage, which is enabled by reliable experience each time,” he added.

Besides, sharp focus on repeat users and initiatives like same day refunds is helping Snapdeal “chart a distinct course”, he said.

Source: The Economic Times