Eyeing 'profitability', ecommerce platform ShopClues confirms 50pc workforce layoffs

Ecommerce platform ShopClues has confirmed that it has been laying off staff. The Gurugram-based portal has reduced its workforce by 50 percent and is now focusing on profitability.

In a statement shared with YourStory, a Shopclues spokesperson said,

"We have been steadily reducing our workforce, mostly in operating functions, as we leverage gains from our technology. This process has been going on for the last two years. Our customer NPS has been increasing steadily in these two years while our workforce has dropped by 50 per cent in same time period. Our focus has been profitability and this year we plan to achieve that."

ShopClues has been steadily working on narrowing its losses. The company, which is registered as Clues Network, posted losses of Rs 208 crore for the year ended March 2018, narrowing them from a loss of Rs 347 crore in the previous financial year. The company, which has raised about $250 million so far, focuses on Tier II and III cities.

The statement further said, "We pride ourselves on our work culture, and empathy for our employees has been our hallmark. The leadership and management is very sensitive to the needs of the workforce and transparency, over-communication, and empathy define our culture. We have provided full assistance to all impacted employees. We ensure 100 percent out placements to them – our goal is to ensure that more than 80 percent of impacted employees get placed within a week."

An earlier report pegged the number of layoffs at 200 employees. ShopClues was in talks with Snapdeal for a potential acquisition to survive in the hyper-competitive online shopping segment in India. However, Snapdeal decided against the acquisition as there were concerns regarding some of the findings that emerged from the due diligence conducted by advisory firm EY.

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