<div><em>The app connects small sellers, home entrepreneurs and artisans with potential buyers on a zero commission basis, reports <strong>Simar Singh</strong></em><br><br><br><br>With the aim of bringing a million small shops online within a year, e-commerce giant, Snapdeal, announced the launch of a new open marketplace, Shopo. The mobile based interface aims to connect small sellers, home entrepreneurs and artisans with potential buyers and works on a zero commission model.</div><div> </div><div>“Mobile is one of the key drivers fuelling the growth of e-commerce in the country. In line with this, we have launched Shopo- a mobile based open marketplace that will allow businesses as well as individuals to harness the power of the internet instantly and at zero cost”, said Snapdeal’s Co-Founder and CEO, Kunal Bahl, at Shopo’s launch in the Capital.</div><div> </div><div>The company’s Chief Product Officer, Anand Chandrasekaran, told BW|Businessworld that they recognised that there was a gap in the market for a platform like Shopo because they were rejecting eight out of ten sellers who wanted to retail their products on Snapdeal because they were not big enough to be registered, have the required licenses, etc. The ambition was to create a space for such sellers, who despite together contributing to 13 per cent of India’s GDP remain fragmented and unorganised.</div><div> </div><div>Taglined ‘Chat Buy Sell’, the mobile app tries to create a seamless seller and customer connection by offering an incredibly simplified interface. In Bahal’s words, the idea was to create “friction free commerce”.</div><div> </div><div>The application offers easy mobile number based registration for sellers, which, according to the company, takes less than 30 seconds and a chat option for buyers and sellers to interact, recreating the traditional market experience. Buyers can make bids which sellers are free to accept or reject.</div><div> </div><div>However, the company is not offering any logistical support or payment infrastructure in the app as of now and, transactions and other details have to be worked out on a personal level between the interacting parties.</div><div> </div><div>According to Chandrasekaran, the two key aims while developing the product were creating “experience and trust”, with the straightforward interface creating the experience and the chat option helping build trust.</div><div> </div><div> Bahal said that currently less than, “0.1 per cent of the SMBs in India have an online presence” and Shopo hopes to take the rest of them online to help them grow as an online shop was the most convenient platform to reach a variety of interested buyers.</div><div> </div><div>Shopo already has over 30,000 listings with a new one being added “every five seconds” and more than 4,500 shop owners registered. </div><div> </div><div> </div>
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