4 min readNew DelhiNov 14, 2015 08:26 PM IST
First published on: Nov 14, 2015 at 08:16 PM IST
“You have to take the decision keeping in mind where your users are and not what you or your company think.”
(Illustration: Pradeep Yadav)Snapdeal was quick to respond with its Snap-Lite mobile website when Flipkart suddenly changed its mind to ditch its app-only strategy for smartphones. The recent launch of Flipkart Lite shows that Flipkart is somewhere unconvinced of its plans. Rival Snapdeal, on the other end, is comfortable with their ‘app-also’ strategy. Snapdeal is now more focused on acquiring more sellers and delivering a personalised customer experience.
Back in September, when Flipkart amazed (or should we say shocked) us with its app-only strategy, Snapdeal’s new chief product officer Anand Chandrasekaran in an exclusive conversation with IndianExpress.com shared his thoughts on going app-only. After two months, it seems Snapdeal might have gauged it right. Excerpts.
Going app-only. What is really driving this thought?
Growth of smartphones. Smartphone sales are doubling each year and for most users, a smartphone is the first device which connects them to the Internet. From our own data, 70 per cent of Snapdeal’s transactions come from mobile. But that being said, I think the web is far from dead. 30 per cent still come from the web. This is huge.
Do you think it is the right time to go app-only in the Indian e-commerce market?
You have to take the decision keeping in mind where your users are [ web or app] and not what you or your company think. As far as Snapdeal is concerned we will be present wherever our users are present. In future, there might be a time where only one platform might make sense but as of now users should be given a choice.
So, Snapdeal going app-only is not happening anytime soon?
For us, it is not an ‘or’ decision. It is an ‘and’ decision. We want to offer the best app and web experience.
You will always continue with both?
Yeah. I think the only reason you would want to make it an ‘or’ decision is because you are not investing in both experiences [web and app] for your users. We are continuously striving to improve the performance of both the platforms while delivering a richer experience.
Desktop versus mobile browsing mindset, what are your observations?
Apart from the difference in screen sizes, the real scarce resource is user attention. When someone is using a smartphone, he is always busy shuffling from one thing to the other. On the other hand in PCs, people spend a lot of time on one thing. The mindset is completely different on both platforms.
While users spend time researching about a particular product in detail on a desktop, the final purchase decision is happening from mobile screens.
It is an integrated experience for users and we shouldn’t be taking way these choices until we get to a place when the other screens don’t serve any purpose. And I don’t think we are at that point of time.
Be it ‘app-only’ or ‘app-also’, the fact is most e-commerce players are yet to make money despite huge investments. Your thoughts?
I feel e-commerce is something unprecedented that is happening to the country which is attracting a lot of players. The market is still learning and developing. Revenue generation is just a matter of time.
“You have to take the decision keeping in mind where your users are and not what you or your company think.”
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