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A few days back, we told you how <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> has tied up with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/You-can-now-use-the-Snapdeal-app-to-book-tickets-and-order-food-online/articleshow/51340726.cms">Redbus, Zomato and Cleartrip</a> so that its users can book online tickets and order food using the mobile app. 
 This time, however, Snapdeal has entered into a tie-up with that the car cab-booking company <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword>, so that its consumers can book cabs using the app. This makes it one of the most high-profile partnerships in the recent history of India's startup ecosystem. 
 
When contacted by ET, spokespersons from both <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Snapdeals-Rohit-Bansal-spills-beans-on-what-next-in-e-commerce-innovation/articleshow/51424704.cms">Snapdeal</a> and Uber declined to comment on the matter. 
 
In the recent past, Snapdeal has regularly updated its app, majorly its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Product-selfies-IMPS-refunds-and-much-more-this-is-how-Snapdeal-is-using-technology-to-improve-user-experience/articleshow/50768069.cms">user interface and user experience</a>, because it wants to evolve from just another ecommerce company to a complete ecosystem of goods and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Heres-why-Indian-e-commerce-players-are-partnering-with-on-demand-services-platforms/articleshow/51408204.cms">services</a>. 
 
Talking of Uber, this deal will give the company access to more than 25-million registered users of the ecommerce company, which can prove to be useful for its ongoing battle with rival Ola. 
 
<a href="http://www.livemint.com/rf/Image-621x414/LiveMint/Period1/2014/01/10/Photos/DSC_1935--621x414.JPG">Image source</a>

You can soon book an Uber using your Snapdeal app

On the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/KPMGs-US-boss-gave-us-8-pieces-of-advice-for-women-looking-to-get-promoted-at-work/articleshow/51305086.cms">International Women’s Day</a>, we caught up with the women brigade in the <keyword id="6355118" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="technology">technology</keyword> space leading from the front. These change makers who are paving the way for the rest of the community to rise spoke their minds out. What they advised will make you want to keep all your inhibitions aside and plunge yourselves into the race. If we had to tell you in a nutshell, it’s survival of the fittest, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=international+women+day">whether you are a woman or a man, doesn’t matter</a>! Read on: 
 “Women have innovated, built successful companies, lead large companies and were champions of social, political awareness. Within our company too, women are contributing equally in building the technology and delivering on par with their men counterparts. They are managing development teams like seller platform &amp; website, handling program management for large cross team projects, defining product for some niche areas, designing the UI for various <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> portals and apps, ensuring the quality of the products, supporting databases and the entire release management of projects,” says Vasanthi Ramesh - the AVP for Customer Promise &amp; Returns at Snapdeal. 
 
She feels proud when she says she is in a company which has a strong diversity and inclusivity programme called Advitya that helps women get mentorship, leadership skill training, guidance for handling work during maternity, health and counselling programs. 
 
 “As a woman, I don’t believe a woman needs any different set of traits than a man to succeed. My advice to other women who are struggling to make it big in the technology space is – Never listen to people who say you can't. If you have the right passion, just know your goal and focus on your next step, success will follow,” she adds. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/The-20-jobs-where-women-earn-the-most/articleshow/51319435.cms">ALSO READ: 20 Jobs Where Women Earn The Most</a> 
 
Another woman of power - Deepthi Singh, who is Senior Director for Multimedia Research Group here says, “In my career, I have seen subtle forms of what was possibly unconscious bias”. The<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/These-3-Indian-companies-are-celebrating-WomensDay-uniquely/articleshow/51312080.cms"> awareness of the problem has caused some of the biggest companies </a>like <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> and <keyword id="10387" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Microsoft">Microsoft</keyword> to spring into action. I am happy to at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/topic/SnapDeal">Snapdeal, diversity is a way of life</a> and we are nurturing a culture that respects it. I believe, companies should educate men and women about different ways in which biases happen at work place consciously and unconsciously. It would help if this can be supported by data on recruitment, raises and promotions available within the company thereby, alleviating the problem to some extent," she says. 
 
She adds, “Women need to see more examples to look up to than we currently do in the technology industry. In the early 2000s when I joined the industry, there was only one other woman coder in a company of around 200 people. A welcome change is, the gender ratio is much healthier at the entry level now. However, even today many women do not stay for the long haul and, it takes time to be able to set an example. In my opinion, encouraging and enabling women to stay for the long haul will certainly help”. 
 
Charu Malik who is the Head of Decision Sciences, meanwhile, cites some awesome facts about women in the tech space. 
 
“Women hold a mere 30% off all jobs across the tech industry. However, women’s growth in the field is a staggering rate of 238% faster than men, showcasing the wide road being paved for future women pursuing tech related careers,” she says. 
 
"Technology is at the heart of every operation in our company. .We are leveraging technology even internally, for example our appraisal process, leave applications, etc. Striving to continuously improve women’s representation in their career development, the company regularly conducts trainings to sensitize workforce towards gender issues. Having talented women in key decision-making roles also helps understand the customer base better. Women are an important part of any workforce diversity effort and can equally do the job just as effectively as men. I don’t believe a woman needs any different set of traits than a man to succeed, one is hired for the industry experience and skills they have not their gender,” she says. 
 
Then there's Jyoti Thakur, Manager of Design Usability at Snapdeal who says - “Women must be encouraged to dream high and big in technology careers, and organizations must support them with the right culture and environment, and infrastructure of learning and development to achieve these goals. Snapdeal offers rigorous training to help women expand their network, connect with senior leadership, and hone their skills for advancing to the next level. The company also hosts technology meet-ups and hackathons on a regular basis to maintain high performance standards and drive great work, we recognize the role that training plays.” 
 
Jyoti also touches on the importance of self reflection. “For women that aspire to play leadership roles, I think sometimes we create self- made barriers. But I believe that the biggest barrier might be self-belief. Overcoming inhibition, and believing that one can lead, is usually the first and biggest step to actually doing it,” she sums it up for us.

Power women in tech - leading from the front

Snapdeal-owned <keyword id="6377963" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Freecharge">FreeCharge</keyword> has a target in mind and is tying up with more and more merchants for the same. 
 
FreeCharge wants to increase its business multi-fold by March 2017 to Rs 20,000 crore. Presently, it sells services up to Rs 6,600 crore on its platform. 
 The competition in <keyword id="6368227" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mobile-wallets">mobile wallets</keyword> and recharges has intensified, leading big players to launch multiple services. 
 
"The target for us is, that we should end the year March 2017 with Rs 20,000 crore (about $3 billion) worth of transactions processed," Govind Rajan, chief operating officer of FreeCharge told ET. 
 
FreeCharge has partnered exclusively with Shoppers Stop and Westlife Development. 
 
"Our focus is actually on going after merchants who have a high velocity and high transactions values," Rajan told ET, adding “we are working on UIs which highly intuitive for both, the merchants and the consumer.” 
 Jasper Infotech, which owns <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword> and FreeCharge both, wants to raise about $300 million (Rs 2,000 crore) for the digital payments platform to give tough competition to Paytm. 
 
FreeCharge has nearly one million transactions per day and Paytm's count is at 95 million transactions per month. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

Snapdeal-owned FreeCharge sets Rs 20,000 crore business target by March 2017

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=E-Commerce">E-Commerce</a> has become one of the undisputed mainstays of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Indian+economy+">Indian economy </a>and the sector is poised to grow at a 41% CAGR over FY15-18E, according to a recent Goldman Sachs report. Our sense is that within a decade, India’s consumption <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=GDP">GDP</a> will be $2.5 trillion, of which, 10% will be online and <keyword id="35621" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-commerce">e-commerce</keyword> will play a definitive role in addressing this $250 billion consumption gap. Therefore, starting 2016, the Indian e-commerce sector will need to recalibrate its focus on a long-term vision to ensure business scalability and profitability. Businesses will have to ensure bringing in innovative consumer-centric solutions to provide an enhanced experience for all stakeholders. In the process of laying the future roadmap to create the most impactful digital commerce ecosystem, there are four focus areas which will require special attention – digital payments, O2O and Omni channel, vernacular interfaces, and predictive analysis. 
 
Digital Payments Creating Value Added Transaction Experience 
From card on delivery to greater adoption of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=digital+wallets">digital wallets</a>, payment has become an active playground for e-commerce players to ensure value added transaction experiences. Focusing on improving customer experience, 2016 will see introduction of more efficient digital payments solutions. One impact of this will be on the financial supply chain and refunds mechanism. Banks are already assisting in building this through IMPS transactions that allow bulk refunds to be processed faster, even allowing under one hour refunds in certain cases. In 2016, faster cash transaction solutions will be developed for sellers and merchants as well. For instance, banks can collaborate with e-commerce logistics partners to strengthen financial supply chain. This will allow faster collection and entry of cash in the banking system as well as efficient technology integration for its early disbursal to marketplaces, and thereby the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=seller+community">seller community</a>. 
 
 At the same time, forecasts that suggest the mobile wallet market in India are expected to reach US USD 6.6 billion by 2020 (India Mobile Wallet Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2020) indicate greater adoption of wallets as a simplified and secure digital payment option. With various payment solutions such as HCE (Host Card Emulation), NFC (Near Field Communication), BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) and QR (Quick Response) code, digital wallets have already created value through single touch and secure payment solutions, cashback deals, among others. The future is in solutions like ‘On the go Pin’ which are not only compliant with RBI’s two-factor authentication mandate, but also faster and safer than existing technologies like MPIN, by-passing the need for OTP in online and offline commerce. 
 
O2O and omni channel: Fostering integrated commerce experiences 
Retailers and marketplaces are increasingly recognizing the need to reach on-the-move customers through multiple entry points – web, wap, app and in- store – as consumption patterns evolve. A robust omni-channel programme will help <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce">e-commerce</a> players integrate in-store and online product discovery and delivery, creating value and loyalty in customers. A significant number of consumers in India still prefer the touch and feel aspect of offline commerce. Online to offline commerce is in a unique position to cater to diverse consumer demands and buying behaviours. Since technology is such an integral part of an intuitive O2O experience, marketplaces can start by focusing on data integration and pre-emptive analysis to deliver differentiated experiences at unique points of access. 
 
In fact, a series of strategic engagements that go into building successful models of hyper-local delivery, Click and Collect commerce and service assistance will be designed on a strong foundation of simplified technology solutions. Examples of these engagements are already being seen in categories like Automobiles, Apparel and Real Estate. But with more brands accepting the need, we will see an increase in cases of omni-channel outreach. 
 
Recognizing value in Vernacular: 
With the rapid growth of e-commerce businesses, the sector will have to start looking at the untapped segments of Indian population to increase market share. According to an IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India) report, out of India’s 259 million internet user base, 127 million internet users from the Tier 2 and 3 geographies are yet to come online due to the language barrier. Yet the consumption needs for this pool are as diverse and as strong as their English-speaking counterparts. This creates potential to open up the ecommerce industry to an untapped market – estimated to be more than 100 million internet users. The next growth area, we feel, will be in developing language-based interface solutions, back-end support and customer engagement teams to create an experience unique to vernacular audiences. Recognizing the potential, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal">Snapdeal</a> became the first <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce">e-commerce</a> marketplace to launch a UI in 11 regional languages. This is only expected to drive trends in e-commerce, bringing the remotest areas in the country under financial inclusion through digital wallets. A cashless economy can very well be the future. 
 
Innovation will ride on simplification and predictability: 
A worthwhile commerce experience is dependent on ease of discovery, purchase and delivery. Placing the customer at the centre of innovations will allow for blending various aspects of user experiences across multiple platforms, channels and apps – a string of pearls impact. This is both a reflection of, and an impetus to, the way <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce">e-commerce</a> engagements will develop as the sector matures. One aspect of this is the experience of a customer when he engages with a brand or platform. The intuitiveness of an interface is the first stage at which impactful interactions can happen with customers. The spate of innovations like more efficient product discovery, greater integration of social platforms to mimic peer-influenced purchase decisions, replication of offline browsing experiences are all steps in the direction to make a great first impact. Now, an important focus area for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce">e-commerce </a>marketplaces will be real-time addressing of consumer pain-points which predominantly rest on lack of trust and inconvenience. On the technology front, this can be delivered through solutions like pre-emptive and stringent product quality checks that will enable better addressing of fraud. 
 
Deploying Big Data insights and Predictive Analysis have been key factors in how e-commerce players have strengthened customer engagements. In fact product recommendations to customers and business solutions for sellers have relied on recognizing insightful patterns in consumer preferences. Yet the scope of data analysis is grossly under-tapped, especially in context of process management. E-commerce businesses in 2016 will engage more strongly with the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Data+Analytics">Data Analytics</a> to manage their back-end solutions. If we observe the ecosystem today, logistics partners and marketplaces have begun driving better process by more efficient tracking of products; predicting demand surges, especially on high online-traffic days and also smartly managing bottlenecks in assembling and delivery. 
 
Online commerce is set to reach greater heights because of the significant investments that are going into strengthening its supporting ecosystem. Businesses that will work towards transforming various elements of the value chain will enable the establishment of a sustainable e-commerce sector. Hence, factors like digital payments, O2O commerce and pre-emptive and simplified technology innovations will drive value for customers and sellers alike. As the sector evolves, focused executions to transact and engage in vernacular, will help shift a further chunk of retail transactions online. Digital commerce is poised to create further disruption in the Indian market landscape, and these developments will eventually play a critical role in strengthening the economic growth of the country. 
 
(The article has been authored by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Anand+Chandrasekaran">Anand Chandrasekaran</a>, Chief Product Officer, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Snapdeal">Snapdeal</a>) 
 
 Image credit: Indiatimes

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You can soon book an Uber using your Snapdeal app

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Power women in tech - leading from the front

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Snapdeal-owned FreeCharge sets Rs 20,000 crore business target by March 2017

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Future-gazing: E-Commerce in 2016

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