Snapdeal, an e-commerce business catering to budget-conscious clients, reported a 0.8 percent increase in operating revenue from Rs 839.4 crore in FY19 to Rs 846.4 crore in FY20, despite a Covid-led sales disruption in Q4.

Snapdeal, on the other hand, reported losses of Rs 274 crore in FY20, up 47% (by Rs 88 crore) from Rs 186 crore in FY19 as a result of such activities, according to the business.

While the current financial year has experienced recurrent disruptions and low customer sentiment due to safety and economic worries, the benefits of these growth initiatives are projected to be realised in the next years, according to the firm.

We would have expected the acceleration of online adoption by merchants to happen in three years, not six months. We've had 20,000 new sellers join our platform in the previous six months, with 10,000 of them joining in the last 90 days. About 5,000 of them are manufacturers, which I believe is a very healthy development for India in general and for consumers in particular."

Due to the Covid impact, Snapdeal furloughed about 7% of its 750 full-time employees — 50-55 employees – for three months in May. Snapdeal's most recent big realignment effort, which impacted employees, was in 2017, when the company reportedly fired off about 600 employees while founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal forewent their salaries to keep on track to profitability.

Snapdeal continued to invest in market expansion activities in FY20, which helped to expand the market beyond just brands, urban centres, and a predominantly English-speaking audience. Snapdeal's FY20 loss of Rs 274 crore, up from Rs 186 crore in FY19, is due to one-time investments made as a result of such efforts, it added.

More consumers are shopping on the company's platform, with the number of buyers increasing from 19 million in FY19 to 27 million in FY20.

According to the spokesperson, the company is continuing to expand its efforts to provide new options for existing offline merchants and manufacturers to grow and strengthen their online presence.