Paytm joins the party late, plans big

Mobile wallet-major Paytm, which also has a marketplace, has decided to join the sales season late, after round one of the online biggies - Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal - is over.

Branded 'Maha Bazaar Sale', Paytm is gearing up to offer its best from October 12. While the company expects to grow its monthly gross merchandise value (GMV) to 3X by year end, it's aiming for year-on-year growth of 500 per cent during the festive season sale days.

MAHA BAZAAR SALE

• Paytm is gearing up to offer its best from October 12
• The company expects to grow its monthly gross merchandise value to 3X by year end
• It’s aiming for year-on-year growth of 500 per cent during the festive season sale days

If everything falls in place, the company hopes to meet the target of a monthly run rate of Rs 3,000 crore, an executive said.

The company said that this year it has lined up total benefits (discounts and cashbacks put together) of more than Rs 1,000 crore for consumers during the three days of sale. With plans of expanding in Tier-II and Tier-III markets, Paytm will also spend money in regional media and other offline channels.

It's aiming to grow 100 per cent over last year and achieve overall 10 million transactions in three days of sale, the company said.

"Diwali is the biggest shopping season in India and the special offers on Paytm will add further delight to this year's celebrations. We believe that we will deliver a great experience to our consumers and sellers this Diwali. This is in line with our vision to position ourselves in the Indian consumer's mind as the one-stop destination for value-driven online shopping," said Saurabh Vashishtha, vice-president - Paytm.

The Paytm marketplace has invested significantly in offering warehousing facilities at up to 90 per cent discount across 19 fulfillment centres, free consolidation centers at 35 locations and additional manpower to ensure faster and smoother operations during the peak season.

The Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company is trying to go big with its online marketplace business and plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore in the newly separated entity.