Paytm Mall, the online shopping platform could be looking to trim down its business, and eyeing other avenues to compete in. This has been reported by Hindu Business Line on Monday, which also claims that a change in its business model is the reason for its quicker than expected downfall.
The report also says they’ve stopped giving cashbacks, reduced the number of fulfillment centers across the country, thereby affecting its overall website traffic.
But responding to the report, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder, Paytm has refuted those allegations and claimed that instead of fall in business, they are seeing good growth with a changing business on the horizon.
The report citing multiple store retailers, says that the company has reduced stocking its inventory, and without any information, stopped giving cashback to consumers also. It says that Paytm Mall has been running in heavy losses, after raising more than Rs 2,900 crore in 2018.
I have mentioned earlier also that we (Paytm Mall) will have a majority business by O2O (online to offline) category. Grocery from our store is becoming bigger and biggerVijay Shekhar Sharma, founder, Paytm to Hindu Business Line
Industry experts have been clear that the change in the e-commerce rules in India and Walmart acquiring Flipkart has changed the dynamics of online shopping business in the country. Among all these giants, there’s also Paytm Mall in the mix.
After all, Paytm Mall has Alibaba to bank on and this means, all the cashbacks and heavy discounts it has been able to offer will reduce at least in the short term.
The move from a B2C model to an online to offline strategy is grappling the company with challenges and remodeling of such a magnitude is sure to take some time. It would be premature to assume Paytm Mall is unlikely to take off but experts opine that catering to multiple businesses can take its toll in the long run.
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