Shopclues Reduces Headcount By 45-50 Employees
Shopclues Reduces Headcount By 45-50 Employees

In a move to rejuvenate the company’s working environment, Shopclues has laid off between 45-50 employees across multiple functions.

A company spokesperson said, “the layoffs were made taking into account individual performances and had impacted "less than 4% of the company's overall workforce.”

He said, "Unfortunate as it might be, the rigours of a merit-based system requires that we keep the bar high on individual performance. As we wrap up the review cycle for FY 2018, this decision has impacted less than 4% of the total workforce.”

The firm's employee strength is believed to be between 1,150-1,200. The development was first reported by an anonymous Twitter handle @Corporatekumar.

The layoffs come at a time when the Tiger Global Management and GIC-backed company is facing and potentially preparing to stave off, increased competition from two of India's biggest e-commerce companies - Flipkart and Amazon.

Additionally, with Snapdeal also pivoting to a pure-marketplace model with a focus on non-branded products, comparisons have been drawn with ShopClues, which largely caters to demographics beyond the metros.

For fiscal 2017, the online managed marketplace saw its total revenue remain flat, recording just a 5% jump to Rs 188 crore in FY17, as per its financials presented to the Registrar of Companies, and sourced through business intelligence platform Tofler. Its loss for the same period went down by 13% to Rs 332 crore, as it reduced its advertising and promotional expenditure from Rs 236 crore to Rs 188 crore.

Last month, the company reportedly raised a bridge round estimated at $1 million, from early investor Unilazer Ventures, the investment firm founded by media mogul Ronnie Screwvala.

 
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