SnapDeal to focus on profit over scale

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jan 30, 2020

E-commerce platform SnapDeal plans to focus on unit economics over expansion, meaning profitability, as the fashion and lifestyle business moves forward in a climate where investors have less patience. 

 
"Positive unit economics means the consumer is allowing you as a company to make money while serving them,” explained SnapDeal’s co-founder Kunal Bahl at the annual TIEcon event in Mumbai on January 28, the Press Trust of India reported.

“Negative unit economics means you are having to pay the consumer to use your service. Our view for the last few years is that we made lot of errors to get to this realisation." 

"Today more VCs [venture capital funds] are talking about unit economics. GMV [gross merchandise volume] seems to be some word in some dictionary that used to exist long time back,” said Bahl. “Part of it is the fact that even investors are now getting impatient. They are realising that there is slightly less correlation between GMV and building lasting enduring value for a company.”
 
Annual entrepreneurial leadership conclave TIEcon, which held its 11th edition at the N.C.P.A. in Mumbai from January 28 to 29, focused on the theme ‘The Decade Of Start-Ups, Kickstarting the Future,’ according to its website.

The event featured a start-up expo, rage of seminars, networking lunch, gala dinner, and a ‘pitch room’ where start-ups could pitch their ideas to investors for a chance to gain funding.