Snapdeal flips business model, won’t sell high-end brands

Homegrown online marketplace Snapdeal, which was once competing with Flipkart and Amazon, has flipped its business model to target the value-conscious end of the market.

The development comes against the backdrop of the SoftBank-backed company shelving a $950-million merger plan with rival Walmart-owned Flipkart in 2017 and consolidating its entire business, including laying off more than half its workforce and selling key assets such as mobile wallet business Freecharge to Axis Bank and logistics arm Vulcan Express to Kishore Biyani’s Future Group.

“In the last couple of years, we have very sharply focused on the value e-commerce segment and our strategy going forward too is to keep building for this segment,” Kunal Bahl, founder & CEO at Snapdeal, told TOI.