Snapdeal plans to fast track seller COD payments by three days: report

On Saturday, The Economic Times reported that Snapdeal has proposed to let its sellers collect their cash-on-delivery (CoD) payments three days before the due date, with an additional fee of 0.5 percent to be charged on the COD amount.

Still conducting a survey to gauge their interest, the e-commerce marketplace told sellers on Thursday night that Capital Assist is planning to launch ‘early payments option’ to help them avail their payment amount before it’s due.

A Snapdeal spokesperson commented on the same

We continuously engage with sellers to help them become more successful. We received feedback that some sellers would like an option to access receivables in an accelerated manner. To take a broader view, Capital Assist is conducting a survey among select sellers on Snapdeal to assess their requirements. It is a standard practice to seek seller feedback on any new service or policy we plan to introduce.

Launched in August last year, Capital Assist is Snapdeal’s seller financing platform, providing seller’s access to funding while competing with Flipkart and Amazon’s seller financing platforms.

Further, the spokesperson clarified that this wouldn’t be a change in policy but an optional facility, depending on the seller responses.

On the other end, just three days back Snapdeal’s arch rival Flipkart faced protest from merchants for their new return policy. Earlier, it was reported that amongst other measures, Flipkart had decided to increase sales commissions it levies on merchants by up to five percent in some categories.

But what tipped them off was a charge levied (on sellers) for shipping fee, reverse shipping fee and a collection fee for every product returned.

To this a senior member of the All India Online Vendors Association (AIOVA) said that close to 300 of its 1,000 members had decided to quit selling on Flipkart due to its new product return policies.

In the past, Amazon India was also reported to increase its seller commissions.

Therefore, with profitability seems to be a major concern for the e-commerce market, these players are moving away from discounts trying to gain market share, while betting big to build their unique propositions.

Amazon India just day before filed a lawsuit at the Gujarat High Court protesting about entry taxes that cause a loss of revenue for e-commerce companies.

Moreover, all three afore mentioned players have been listed in Nielson’s survey as popular e-commerce platforms for sellers.