Snapdeal may acquire Unicommerce

If the rumours are to be believed, it seems like Unicommerce is up for grabs and is being eyed by Snapdeal. Online order management and fulfilment platform Unicommerce is one of a kind in India- facing tough competition from only one other such company, Browntape.

According to some sources, Unicommerce returned an investment of $10 million (Rs 62 crore) from Tiger Global to allow the potential acquisition bid from Snapdeal. If this actually lets the acquisition happen, the company could be valued at up to $10 million. Apparently Unicommerce would still operate as a separate entity.

What does this indicate?        

This only points towards how popular an order management and fulfilment service is, especially in a country like India. With several retailers wanting to jump onto the ecommerce bandwagon, it can often become a Herculean task for them to manage their product listings, logistics and the like.  Even an online marketplace like Snapdeal realises how crucial such a service can be for smooth running of online selling in India.

Companies like Unicommerce and Browntape are basically acting like catalysts for the transition from traditional retail to ecommerce. For sellers who are intimidated by the idea of managing multiple orders online, they can easily benefit from such services.

First Wishpicker for its ‘personalised’ approach to the customer and now Unicommerce for its management of seller’s hassles- it seems like Snapdeal is making all the right acquisitions it needs to become a well-balanced, unbeatable ecommerce superpower in India.