Mumbai: Snapdeal, India’s value-focused e-commerce marketplace, today shared that it is accelerating the roll out of its vernacular language interface after seeing a tremendous response from its current users, especially first-time users. Data collected over the last four months shows that nearly 35% of the users are already using the various vernacular options available on the platform.
Launched in September last year, Snapdeal’s app and m-site are currently available in multiple vernacular languages including Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, and Marathi to select users. Based on the popularity of vernacular language-based interfaces, this is now being scaled up to a larger audience.
After English, Hindi is the most popular language, followed by Tamil. The use of Gujarati interface is also fast gaining popularity. The vernacular language tech has largely been built in-house by Snapdeal.
While buyers in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Tiruchirappalli, and Vellore accounted for the majority of Tamil users, shoppers from Karnataka, Kerala, Delhi, Pune and Mumbai also used Tamil interface extensively while browsing on the platform. The use of Hindi language was maximum in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi-NCR and Bihar.
The addition of vernacular languages has also resulted in increased engagement with the users. On an average, those exploring via vernacular languages spend 20% more time on the platform including increased viewership of product videos and higher engagement with various contests and gaming options on the platform.
Encouraged by its vernacular interface efforts, Snapdeal is also experimenting with voice-assisted shopping that will allow users to ask questions in various vernacular languages and be guided by an intelligent selection of pre-recorded messages in different languages that will also help them through the transaction flow – like providing voice prompts on how to search, how to add to cart, input the address and make payments etc. The feature is currently in a beta stage.
“A large number of our technology initiatives are focused on creating a welcoming experience for new users. The comfort and familiarity of being able to access the platform in their known languages makes shopping convenient and fun, especially for those who are in the early stages of their online journeys”, said Snapdeal spokesperson.
