India's $200 billion e-commerce market is at the cusp of a revolution driven by internet and smartphone penetration. Before the coronavirus pandemic hit the country, bulk of the business on online platfroms came from the tech savvy 100 million customers in the top ten cities, but the COVID-19 crisis has altered the landscape.

The e-commerce market is now focused on owning a share of the wallet of the next 400 million customers who are driving growth in the tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

While the digital transformation is helping the customer feel safe at home, it has also brought down cost of customer acquisition for online retailers as they struggle to keep the cash burn low to manage the crisis.

Building a profitable business is tough and rebuilding one during a crisis is even tougher. Even the most seasoned entrepreneurs are known to have lost a beat when faced with a do-or-die event.

One company that knows a thing or two about navigating a crisis is Snapdeal; and Kunal Bahl, its co-founder and CEO, was in conversation with CNBC-TV18 to share lessons in building a profitable business in tough times. Bahl is also the new chairman of CII's e-commerce committee.