Snapdeal brings in-store experience online with findmystyle.in

India's largest online marketplace Snapdeal recently unveiled its brand new innovation – findmystyle.in for an enriched shopping experience by bringing in-store experience online. Developed at Snapdeal's multimedia research lab, findmystyle.in is a technology built in India for India. It is the brain-child of research scientists led by Gaurav Aggarwal, Senior Principal Scientist, Nikhil Rasiwasia, Principal Scientist and Deepthi Singh, Senior Director at Snapdeal, multimedia research lab.

Better Shopping Experience

Formed as a result of an acquisition of a technology start-up called Fashiate by Snapdeal in March 2015, findmystyle.in will add a new dimension to product discovery and purchase lifecycle of consumers by enhancing user experience. The search methodology of findmystyle.in is very detailed and customised to a consumer's preference to help them discover a product of choice with ease while saving time and effort.

Commenting on the new feature, Anand Chandrasekaran, Chief Product Officer, Snapdeal said, "findmystyle.in is powered by advanced computer vision and machine learning algorithms. The feature will further enhance customer experience and make online shopping faster, better and more informative. With the introduction of findmystyle.in, we are looking to create an experimental playground and set the base for our image modelling, product search and discovery technology. We will continue to work on developing such innovative technology features and products that will further improve the experience for our customers as well as sellers in the future as well."

The Journey

In February 2010, Kunal Bahl along with Rohit Bansal founded Snapdeal.com with the widest assortment of over 10 million products across more than 500 diverse categories from thousands of regional, national, and international brands and retailers. Founded with a vision to create India's most trusted digital marketplace, Snapdeal plans to spend about $100 million on the multimedia research lab in Bengaluru over the next three years. Being a consumer-oriented company with technology at its core, Snapdeal embraces experimentation and encourages innovation.

With over 40 million members and seller base approaching 100,000 sellers, Snapdeal is the shopping destination for internet users across the country, delivering to more than 5,000 cities and towns in India. Its efforts to map Indian consumer needs and build localised technology solutions will give a boost to product development capabilities within the country and offer customised solutions which address real concerns and enhance consumer experience.

In line with their vision to bridge the gap between online and offline retailers, Snapdeal recently entered into an exclusive strategic partnership with India's leading fashion retailer Shoppers Stop. This partnership will leverage Shoppers Stop's unparalleled brand assortment and Snapdeal's pan India reach to create a superlative and holistic omni-channel retail experience for consumers across the country. "This partnership marks a strong beginning of the bright future for online and offline retail collaboration in India. By bringing the best of online and offline shopping experience to consumers we are confident of delivering great value to consumers across the country while offering them a world class shopping experience," said Kunal Bahl, Co-Founder & CEO, Snapdeal.

Strategic Partnership

A key highlight of this partnership is that customers ordering from Shoppers Stop's store on Snapdeal will be able to pick up the ordered products or get the same delivered from the nearest Shoppers Stop's store. Further, consumers will also be able to exchange or return the products bought on the Shoppers Stop's store on Snapdeal at any of the 74 Shoppers Stop stores across 35 cities. As a pilot, this facility will be launched first in North India. This will extend to other regions of the country over the next 12 months.

Commenting on the new partnership, Govind Shrikhande, Customer Care Associate & Managing Director, Shoppers Stop said, "In line with our omni-channel retail vision for the company, we have embarked on this first-of-its-kind journey with Snapdeal to strengthen our presence in the marketplace channel. In addition to our own shopping site www.shoppersstop.com, online shoppers will now have opportunity to also experience Shoppers Stop in the marketplace arena via our exclusive e-store on Snapdeal. We plan to introduce additional features such as "Click & Collect', and "Ship from Store', etc. in the next phase. Overall, this alliance with Snapdeal will give a significant fillip to the growth of our omni-channel business."