Rs 501 cr in cashback: Paytm Mall's festive season sale starts on 20 September

Paytm Mall, owned by Paytm Ecommerce, has announced a four-day ‘Mera Cashback Sale’ from this Wednesday to Saturday.

This is its first festive season sale and is the third to start one, after Flipkart and Amazon. In all, the three are spending close to Rs 2,500 crore on festive sales this year, it is estimated. The gross merchandise value of the trio’s sales might exceed $3.5 billion (Rs 22,400 crore), believe some, in the four to five days of sale this year.

Customers at Paytm Mall’s sale will get Rs 501 crore in assured cashback, says the company, as it works with brand-authorised stores, large retail chains and small shopkeepers to host a range of products. The sale will offer gift items, appliances, mobiles, apparel, footwear and the like at cashbacks of 15-100 per cent. Additionally, 100 per cent cashback to 25 phone buyers every day; also, 200 customers will receive 100g Paytm Gold every day.

The company is betting a lot on its online-to-offline (O2O) model, as the sale orders will be serviced by the nearest brand-authorised store, large retail chain or small shopkeeper. This will drive sales for Paytm Mall’s partnered retailers ahead of this festive season. The thinking is that it will also lead to shorter delivery timelines for all festive orders and save on additional logistics investments like warehousing. Around 80 per cent of its retailers are participating in the four-day sale, and the platform aims to contribute up to 10-15 per cent of their overall festive sales, as it is expecting at least five million new users during the four days.