Rohit Bansal & Kunal Bahl$200 million$1.74 billionNANANADelhiE-commerceFebruary 2010If 2016 is proving to be a testing year for ecommerce companies, Snapdeal, cofounder and CEO, Kunal Bahl is not particularly perturbed and claims what is happening now is a part of a "natural cycle.""2016 is the year of execution after the funding rounds of 2014-15 took the fledgling industry to a multi-billion dollar market in India. This is a natural cycle. However, in general, investors continue to be excited about the Indian start up ecosystem. All recent reports point to a mega opportunity in boosting online consumption. While individual estimates vary, there is consensus that the runway is really large. There are new investors who are still looking to enter Indian market," says Bahl.The market sentiment has translated from an investment-driven high to a revenue led correction and companies have been increasingly put under pressure. Snapdeal's investors reaffirmed their faith in the shape of the second biggest funding round of $200 million this year, its founders are also keeping their faith in the Indian startup story.Bahl adds that as ecommerce evolves, so would customer expectations regarding their experience with online commerce. "Consumers want value that includes ample choice, good price and a reliable, frictionless experience. Good prices will never go out of fashion and neither will having the lowest cost of doing business," says Bahl.Bahl adds that Snapdeal's efforts will continue to be aligned hassle-free and fast refunds and deliveries, faster check-outs through integrated payment options. "FreeCharge, our digital wallet, complements the purchase experience with an integrated payments option with check-outs happening under 10 seconds. The integration of FreeCharge with Snapdeal allows our users to receive refunds within half an hour," he adds.Ecommerce in India has undergone a clear cycle of growth with consumer's perception of value evolving beyond mere discounts. Today, the parameter by which success may be measured in this sector has tilted towards delivery experience, and five year old Snapdeal seems to be pushing its cart in the right direction."This industry is continuously growing and Snapdeal has been strategically accommodative with its latest shift on building habit commerce and driving repeat purchase over simply chasing discounts," says Jayant Sood, chief customer experience officer, Snapdeal."In line with this, we have made investments to the tune of $300 million in supply chain management alone over the last two years," he adds. A major slice of this went into the construction of a two million sq ft warehousing space across 63 fulfillment centres in 25 cities in India. "Today, a majority of orders are shipped through these centres," says Sood. "This number has grown from just 7% in January 2015 to 80% today," he adds.In the several rounds of funding Snapdeal has clocked since its inception starting with $12 million in January 2011, the company has raised $1.74 billion, including the latest round in February this year where it closed close to $200 million. "At present, we are comfortably funded. We are where we wanted to be at this stage," says Sood.The other possible development could be the complete acquisition of logistics company GoJavas (first owned by Jabong), where Snapdeal holds a minority stake. The acquisition, if it comes through, is likely to be executed through Snapdeal's logistics unit Vulcan Express and could strengthen its supply chain infrastructure, ensuring faster deliveries.However, the results of an investigation commissioned by Rocket Internet (erstwhile owners of Jabong) unearthed certain anomalies around GoJavas and how it went about conducting its business. Snapdeal was also in talks with Jabong to acquire its business in India, but corporate concerns seem to have derailed the process.The company, claims to have grown 1.9x in shipment volumes in just the last one year and has set a target of achieving 20 million daily transacting users by 2020. "We are currently at one million plus daily transacting users, which is more than the combined figure of our nearest competitors, Flipkart and Amazon ," says Sood. "We have also grown our assortment from 12 million products to 35 million products over the last year, giving our customers a wider range of options to choose from," he adds.Customer experience notwithstanding, does Snapdeal plan to follow on the heels of Amazon India with collaborations with offline stores? "No. We have always been a pure play marketplace and continue to remain in that space. Being online helps us to maintain unlimited inventory which rules out the possibility of stocks running out," says Sood.