Paytm announces cashback plans for Diwali

After Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon, its Paytm's turn to announce a Diwali sale - from November 3 to 5. The national capital region-based company has got 80,000 sellers on board and is expecting to list two-three million unique items on the website.

"We will also be offering cash back to our customers. So, if the merchant offers Rs 3,000 cash back, we will match it," said Saurabh Vashishta, vice-president (business), Paytm. The money will be credited to the customer's Paytm wallet. The company hopes that customers will keep the money in the wallet and continue shopping on the site or use it for other payments. "It can be pulled back into their account, if needed," he added.

The company, which recently raised $500 million in a new tranche, is betting on electronics, especially mobile phones, ethnic apparel and home furnishing and kitchen appliances to be its revenue drivers.

"The focus will be on metros but there will be a renewed push for tier-2 and 3 cities," said Vashishta. The company, he said, has tied up with 30 logistics partners, including Blue Dart and Delhivery, for last mile-delivery.

The company will also leverage its two-hour mobile delivery to pull customers on the platform. "We have a partnership with Mobile Store, where they will deliver your phone within two hours of ordering," he added.

The company currently handles 2 million transactions a day, for digital and physical products. Only IRCTC comes close with 1.4 million transactions. The company expects the physical product transactions to go up five times every day over the course of the three days.

Paytm, sources said, has been preparing for the sale for the past three months. This included strengthening seller IT back-end and extensive training on packaging as well as customer interaction and pricing.

Consumers in Uttarakhand and UP will continue to have to pick and choose their choice of goods as e-commerce firms continue their Rs 5,000 delivery restriction.

The company, which recently raised $500 million in a new tranche, is betting on electronicsThe company, which recently raised $500 million in a new tranche, is betting on electronics

"We currently have a pincode-based delivery system so if the seller is within the state there will be no restriction. But yes, the choices will unfortunately reduce greatly," Vashishta said.

Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and Shopclues have all run big sale weeks and declared impressive numbers of goods sold and increase in traffic. Amazon claimed that its sellers saw an 8-10 times growth during the festive season alone and a 250 per cent growth in sellers and customer traffic.