Snapdeal targets IPO in the next one, two years

From being a successful daily deals site to a marketplace selling a wide range of products,

Snapdeal has covered a long journey in just a few years. Now, Snapeal’s agenda is to consolidate further and float an US IPO over the next one or two years. It may be noted that earlier this year, eBay increased its stake in Snapdeal to around 20 percent, triggering takeover talks. However, cofounder Kunal Bahl refutes this.

The e-tailer offers a vast range of products that includes electronics, mobiles, women’s wear, footwear, bags, accessories, watches and the like. It has been expanding its categories, making acquisitions, introducing services commerce by launching an education marketplace and strengthening last-mile delivery systems. Snapdeal competes with other big time players in this space including Flipkart, Amazon among others.

The popular site incepted in 2007 by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal has come a long way. And in a matter of three years, it has crossed three different types of businesses. In 2011, Snapdeal moved away from being a successful daily deals site, to a marketplace selling a variety of products. Of course, the move was full of risks, at a time when most e-tailers were inventory-led. But going the marketplace way really kick-started Jasper Infotech, which runs Snapdeal.com, into the big league. Today, it competes with the likes of Flipkart, is nearing a billion dollars in sales, and targeting a US public float over the next year or so.