Snapdeal’s fairly new books portfolio has picked up well, with its competitive exams books category registering a robust triple-digit boost in sales.

The online marketplace registered a growth of around 300 per cent in February owing to the fast-approaching Railway Recruitment Board and UPSC examinations.

“The competitive books segment currently amounts to more than half of our sales in this category, that’s pretty sizeable,” said Rohit Taneja, vice-president, Category Management at Snapdeal. Also, competitive books yield better profits, as they are not driven by discounts.

Snapdeal, which added the books category to its portfolio just eight months ago, is still in the process of building its books assortment.

“In the competitive exam category, we have about 7,500 books, whereas the entire books catalogue has about 12 million books and will grow in future.

“We reach out to most of the tier II and III cities and in these areas availability of latest editions is an issue. Around 78 per cent of our growth in the competitive books market is coming from tier II and III cities.”

Competitive exams, children and young adults and vernacular sections have the most traction under the Snapdeal books category (about 7-8 per cent in sales).

The company is bullish on its overall books catalogue. “We have a large customer base and our existing consumers, who were already looking for the books category, will drive growth for us. Books are a high-frequency purchase. People who buy books keep coming back for repeat purchases,” said Taneja.

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