Year 2011 has been a good one for e-commerce sites in India, thanks to an 18 per cent increase in online shoppers till November 2011 (according to comScore Data) – and some like Flipkart and SnapDeal have registered over 100 per cent growth. Now buoyed by such windfall sales, these sites are gearing up to take on the rush in 2012.
While companies like SnapDeal and Tradus recruited for the first time at institutes like the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) and the IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) , an old faithful like Flipkart has stepped up hiring. Some others like Naaptol are also ramping up their warehousing facilities.
Hiring
Mr Sandeep Komarvelley, Head - Marketing and Alliances, Snapdeal.com, confirmed to
Barely two-year old Tradus too has made 10 offers at three IITs – Delhi, Roorkee and Kanpur – this year. It also plans to tap the IIMs for managerial talent later in 2012.
Flipkart, which had hired nearly 140 people from the Tier-1 institutes that include the IIMs (40) and IITs (100) over the past two years, has upped the drive. The company has made around 120 offers across the IITs and 25 other campuses including the National Institute of Technologies (NIT) this season.
Incidentally, comSource in its survey released earlier this month, has rated SnapDeal as one of leading coupon sites; while sites like Flipkart and Naaptol are amongst the leading online retail sites.
However, hiring was not the only priority for all. For Tradus, consolidating on its brand – through advertising and marketing – was also important. While Naaptol, would look to firming up its warehousing facilities. From three, the company was looking forward to treble its warehouse count to eight.
“Since we outsource our warehouses through our partners, we do not have many investments to make in this regard,” Mr Manu Agarwal, founder and CEO, Naaptol, said.
Also on cards are new loyalty programmes that will include reviewing of products, discounts of further purchase as well as recommendations from subscribers.