eCommerce major Snapdeal plans to increase its headcount over the next six months by adding 500 people.
Snapdeal, which claims to have over 15 million users, employs about 1,000 people at present.
“We have seen 80-90 per cent growth in traffic month-on-month over the last three quarters. We have been gradually increasing the pace of hiring and over the next six months, we will add about 500 people,” Snapdeal Chief Executive Director, Mr Kunal Behl, told PTI.
The addition would be done in the areas of engineering and analytics, he added.
“Given the competition in the eCommerce space, what would differentiate one player from the other would be the customer experience both while online and offline. The focus on analytics and platform will help us provide that experience,” Mr Behl said.
With 100 million Internet users, India is a lucrative market for retailers and they are vying for the customer’s attention with the widest range of products, he added.
Asked about investment, Mr Behl said the company would invest close to $20 million this year on organic and inorganic growth routes.
Snapdeal is keen on acquisitions to fuel its growth.
“We have received some proposals. We would look at companies, which offer us a good technology platform or a very good team. There is no firm plan but we are looking at options,” he said.
There has been a recent spurt in the number of e-commerce Web sites, offering customers everything from baby diapers to real estate.
Recently, global leader Amazon also forayed into India to compete with firms like Fashionandyou.com, Yebhi.com and eBay.
According to a white paper by First Data Corporation and ICICI Merchant Services, the domestic e-commerce market is expected to touch Rs 50,000 crore in 2011 from Rs 19,688 crore in 2009.
Though a major chunk still comes from online travel through booking of flights, railway tickets, hotels and cars, the share of retail industry is growing on the back of discounted pricing, speed of delivery, security and convenience of payment.