E-commerce major Snapdeal has completed the integration of Exclusively, a marketplace for premium branded fashion and lifestyle products, within itself.
With the integration, the entire catalogue of Exclusively.com, including fashion and lifestyle products, footwear, and accessories will now be available on Snapdeal and will be fulfilled through the latter’s logistics network.
While a news report indicated that the step was taken because Snapdeal is looking to cut costs and conserve cash in a slow funding environment, the company has refuted this saying that the move is aimed at adding more depth and brands to its fashion category.
“This integration will ensure a wider access for the fashion and lifestyle products available on Exclusively, as now all Snapdeal users will have access to the same. This move comes as we plan to add more depth and brands to our fashion category,” Snapdeal said in an official statement.
All team members at Exclusively will continue with their existing business responsibilities.
Exclusively offers a wide fashion range from top Indian designers and international luxury brands like DKNY, Armani, Michael Kors, Porsche Design, Marc Jacobs. It is also home to a large number of leading premium brands like Vera Moda, FCUK, Biba, AND, WLS, Being Human, UCB, Puma, Clarks, Fabindia, amomg others.
Read: Snapdeal acquires Exclusively to create India’s First Online Luxury Mall
Fashion as a category has been one one of the fastest growing verticals for e-commerce sites as it offers high margins compared with mobile phones and books. According to a June report by Google-A.T. Kearney, fashion is expected to overtake consumer electronics as the largest category at 35 per cent of the total online spending by 2020.
Competitors Flipkart and Amazon have also been ramping up their fashion offerings over the past year. Recent being the acquisition of online fashion retailer Jabong by Snapdeal’s biggest rival Flipkart.
Read: Myntra’s Jabong: Then and now
If reports are to be believed, Snapdeal was aggressively bidding for Jabong before it went to Flipkart-owned Myntra, which bought it for $70 million all cash, in a move to become the largest online fashion retailer in the country. With the acquisition of Jabong, the trio – Flipkart, Myntra and Jabong – command a whopping 75 per cent market share in India’s growing online fashion segment.
Read: Flipkart, Alibaba, Future Group, Abof in race to acquire Jabong
Brand History
Snapdeal acquired Exclusively in 2015 with an aim to strengthen its fashion business and tap into the luxury and premium category. A large part of Exclusively’s business reportedly came from outside India.
Exclusively.com was founded in 2010 by Sunjay Guleria and Mohini Boparai Guleria, who sold and bought the company twice.
In November 2012, online fashion retailer Myntra bought Exclusively.in together with its subsidiary SherSingh.com, an online retailer of private label sports apparel. However, in the second half of 2013, Gulerias together with some angel investors bought back Exclusively from Myntra because of difference in the target audience.
While Myntra was focusing on the Indian markets, Exclusively.in primarily targeted the International markets, particularly United States and United Kingdom, which would require logistics and supply chain of its own.
Then in February 2015, Snapdeal acquired Exclusively.com for an undisclosed amount, in what was believed to be an all-stock deal. Post the deal, the name of the company was changed from Exclusively.in to Exclusively.com.
Exclusively is currently being headed by Amit Maheshwari, who before joining Exclusively as its chief executive used to head Snapdeal’s fashion category.
This move comes as Snapdeal plans to add more depth and brands to its fashion category
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