Mobile payment and commerce platform Paytm is planning to expand and strengthen its omni-channel strategy as part of its plans to connect its online users with the offline retailers and use the inventory in offline stores.
With the growth of the e-commerce business and discounts offered by them, traditional retailers were losing customers. For this new initiative, Paytm has earmarked around Rs.100 crore for marketing activities over the next six months.
“It is the next step in the evolution of m-commerce in India. We are synchronizing the extreme convenience of virtual shopping with the personalised touch that comes with offline retail,” said Amit Bagaria, Associate Vice President, Paytm.
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As part of the omni-channel strategy, Paytm, which currently claims to have around more than 100 million users, has partnered with one of the leading mobile retailer The MobileStore.
“The partnership with The Mobile Store is in sync with our larger omni-channel strategy and in the future we will roll out more innovative schemes like buyback and exchange of old handsets as well,” added Mr. Bagaria.
Under this partnership, Paytm users can order phones online and it will be delivered to the customer within two hours. In the initiative called Fastest Expert Delivery, the phones will be delivered at the customer’s door-step by The Mobile Store.
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At present, The MobileStore has over 550 shops across 100 cities in India and the initiative with Paytm will cover 450 stores in 60 cities including Tier 1 and other smaller towns.
Through this partnership Paytm is expecting a GMV of around Rs. 2.000 crore over the next six months.
One97 Communications, which operates Paytm has recently raised around $680 million funding from Alibaba Group, the Chinese e-commerce player. Apart from Alibaba Group, Ant Financials (AliPay), SAIF Partners, Sapphire Venture and Silicon Valley Bank are the major investors in the company.
Going forward, Paytm will launch other categories such as fashion, consumer durable, electronics among others through omni-channel strategy.