Paytm Mall Delists 50% Logistic Partners; Limits Delivery To 17k Pin Codes

Paytm Mall, owned by Paytm Ecommerce Pvt Ltd has consistently prioritised consumer trust and transparency in its order deliveries. After delisting 85,000 sellers, the company has taken another step towards guaranteeing the most superior consumer experience. In line with its mission to establish India’s most trusted commerce platform, it has delisted 50% logistics partners, stopping deliveries to more than 9,000 pin codes out of 26,000 were guaranteed assistance in returns and replacements was not assured.

The company aims to establish a reliable logistics ecosystem with greater transparency in delivery and replacement timelines while ensuring that exact products are delivered in a good condition. It routinely evaluates existing logistics partners and aggregation centres to review their performance and buyer feedback.

Based on this audit, the company has delisted 6 out of 14 logistic partners and 30 courier aggregation centres, as they were unable to offer a consistently superior consumer experience.

“We are building India’s most trusted online shopping destination by ensuring we work with trusted shopkeepers and logistics partners only. We believe working with fewer retailers and pin code that leads to a superior customer experience is more important than rapid expansion. We remain committed to expanding our coverage in due course by increasing the set of serviceable pin codes and number of merchant partners in a gradual manner,” said Amit Sinha, Chief Operating Officer, Paytm Mall.

Going forward, the company will expand its reach by offering a network of trusted logistics network to its partner shopkeepers and brand authorised stores across all pin-codes. This will ensure greater peace of mind for every entity in the retail ecosystem, as customers will be assured of a superior buying experience, while retailers will be able to sell their inventory to a larger set of customers.

Paytm Mall has recently revamped the seller onboarding process to further enhance the consumer trust on its platform. Sellers undergo strict quality and service audits that will include their registration number, shop location, shop photos, brand authorization letters and GSTIN among others in order to list their products on the platform. This criteria blocks potential fraudulent merchant from signing up and creating a bad customer experience. The company will continue partnering with reputed shopkeepers and brands, enabling them to sell on its platform.

Paytm Mall On-Boards Over 800 Personnel From One97; Set To Hire 2,000 More This Year

In May 2017, Paytm de-merged its e-commerce business into a separate entity by the name of Paytm Mall to address India’s large online retail opportunity. This new entity started off with the same shareholding as the parent company of Paytm, One97 Communications Limited and raised $200 million from SAIF Partners and Alibaba Group Holding. Paytm Mall works with retailers and brands to build their online stores integrated with supply chain in a partner model. It is currently targeting to launch its new app in a coming month.

And now Paytm has moved over 800 personnel actively involved in the growth of its e-commerce business from One97 Communications to the newly incorporated Paytm Mall. The company is also planning to hire 2,000 new personnel across various business and tech roles to effectively scale its operations.

Paytm Mall is focused on building the country’s largest e-commerce platform that enables brand and local shopkeepers in growing their business. It is innovating on multiple aspects of discovery and logistics among others to emerge as the preferred destination for consumers looking for the widest range of products sold by trusted sellers. The firm has put together a team with the most diverse set of experiences and skill-sets to handle key roles - Saurabh Vashishtha for marketing, Amit Bagaria for customer experience, Bhushan Patil for logistics and Sunil Goyal for Product and Technology. This team will continue overseeing various categories across the company.

Commenting on the development, Amit Sinha, Chief Operating Officer, Paytm Mall said, “I am excited to work with our long-standing colleagues to build the most trusted online shopping platform. We will make the largest selection of products available to customers on their smartphone, while empowering brands and local shopkeepers to sell online and offline with equal ease.”

Paytm Mall is also scaling its partner network by adding another 3,000 Paytm Agents to its existing workforce as it goes deeper into tier II and tier III cities, digitizing catalogues of neighborhood shopkeepers and trusted brands. It will leverage mobile technology to make this wide retail inventory available to millions of Indians, while helping these retailers reaching out to a wider set of customers around them.

Paytm Mall’s O2O (Offline-to-Online) platform is positioned to contribute towards the growth of every stakeholder in the retail ecosystem including shopkeepers and brands. It will boost the business of local stores by bringing new customers who will be able to discover them on Paytm Mall and conveniently place an order. Retailers also get access to valuable customer analytics for better targeting of existing users. Additionally, the customers who walk into the shops to scan the Paytm Mall QR code will be able to follow the store, place orders and get exciting offers.

Recently, Paytm Mall had launched Campus Icon, a nation-wide programme to offer industry-focused learning to college students.

10 Startup Stories That Made Healines This Week [12 - 17 June]

IndianWeb2 is back again with its weekly round-up. Here are the 10 news which made the headline this week:

Here Comes The News Of Mobikwik Raising Funds

If sources to be believe, Gurgaon-based startup, Mobikwik is in talks to raise $100 - $150 million in a round that would value the company at more than $1 billion. Upasana Taku, co-founder of Mobikwik has confirmed the news to one of the digital media. This round will lead the company towards the India’s elite club of unicorn startups. Investor's names are not yet revealed by the co-founder, however, she has said that the startup would include one major strategic investor and a number of financial institutions.

The possible fund raise will happen in next couple of months. Further, post raising funds, company plans to invest $45 million of the capital raised on growing user and merchant bases, and expand its current base of six offices to more than 20.

Google Launches Website Builder For SMBs And Startups

The tech giant, Google has rolled out “Website With Google My Business”, a new feature that will help SMBs and startups in India to build a mobile optimised website instantly right from their phone in less than 10 minutes. Being made available in ten languages including English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada and Malayalam, the tool will let businesses create their first website absolutely free of cost.

Available for Google My Business users, this new feature will provide templated, editable websites for SMBs created from their data and photos on Google Maps. The tech giant makes use of small businesses listing to build the website, taking care of the design and makes sure that their website is easily found in Search and Maps.

Co-working Space Innnov8 Elevates Shailesh Gupta As CEO

Co-working space, Innov8 is further strengthening its foothold by adding 7 more centres to its portfolio in next 6 months. The company plans to be in 5 major cities by FY 17. Further company’s board has elevated Shailesh Gupta, one of the two co-founders, as CEO while Dr Ritesh Malik will become the MD of the company.

Within a year and a half of its launch, the startup is operational in Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Delhi and is expanding to Mumbai, Noida and Gurugram by the year-end.

PayTm Mall Rope In Amit Sinha As COO

Paytm Mall has appointed Amit Sinha as the Chief Operating Officer (COO). He will be responsible for overall operations of Paytm Mall and expanding the team to ensure customers have access to the widest assortment of products across categories, delivered quickly through an efficient and optimised partner logistics network. Sinha has served in several key business roles in Paytm and helped implement critical business, HR and financial processes for the company.

Indian Startups Fasten Your Seatbelt And Get Ready To Bag Investment From 500 Startups

Silicon Valley-based early-stage venture fund, 500 Startups is on its way to make 10-12 investments in the Indian startup industry this year. Some of 500 Startups’ global micro funds have already started making investments in the Indian subcontinent this year.

Founded by Dave McClure and Christine Tsai in 2010, the seed accelerator is on the verge of making seven deals in totality, starting with the investment in Spoyl, a used-goods marketplace in December 2016.

Chip Maker Intel Corporation To Invest $178 Mn

Intel Corporation will soon going to invest $178 million in expanding its R&D presence and building a new state-of-the-art design house in Bengaluru. The R&D infrastructure in India will enable the company to continue their momentum in doing cutting-edge innovation and design work from India. Intel India is Intel’s largest design center outside the United States and is engaged in cutting-edge engineering work such as chip or system-on-chip design, graphics, software and platform for the cloud, devices and IoT markets involving advanced technology areas such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and 5G.

Spark10 Accelerator Invites Application For Its Cohort

As part of its newly designed accelerator program, Spark10 accelerator has invited applications for its latest cohort. Previously run two cohorts, in Hyderabad and Bangalore, the accelerator in the past 18 months has invested in 13 Indian startups from fields ranging from artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, e-commerce to nightlife discovery with a collective approximate valuation of over Rs. 50 crores.

The 2016 cohort saw the brightest of Indian startup-brains compete for selection to the first accelerator programme by Spark10. The nine startups mentored in this cohort gained immensely from the mentorship of the experienced team of entrepreneurs, investors and mentors of Spark10.

Visakhapatnam, The Next Tech Startup Hup

Visakhapatnam is all set to be the hub for technology startups. V Valli Kumari, Chief Executive Officer of APIS has stated that they’re looking at young and local talent whose ideas could be turned into successful business models.

The incubation centre which will be specifically promoting IT, electronics, telecom, fabrication and manufacturing startups will soon be coming up. Further, they will soon be organising ‘India International Innovators Fair’ in Visakhapatnam that will see participation from innovators from 30 countries.

Rape Victim Files A New Lawsuit Against Uber

A woman who was raped by an Uber driver in India has filed a new lawsuit against the Uber as company’s executives had obtained her medical records following the attack.

Identified as Jane Doe, the Indian woman and current Texas resident previously filed suit against the company in 2015 after being raped by an Uber driver, charging the ride-hail giant with negligence and fraud. The case was reportedly settled for over $3 million, while her attacker Shiv Kumar Yadav was convicted and imprisoned for life.

An Update On Indian Bitcoin Startups

When it comes to India, bitcoin is still in its nascent stage in the South Asian country. Though not yet recognised by the country’s government, but the bitcoin industry in India is still seeing an increasing growth in number of bitcoin players as well as users. According to experts, the increasing acceptance of the digital currency is fuelled by the surge in its value. The year 2017 especially has been a good one for bitcoin so far as its value touched an all-time high. So, where does India stand on bitcoin? This article aims to make you aware of just that.

Paytm Mall Appoints Amit Sinha As Its Chief Operating Officer

Paytm Mall has appointed Amit Sinha as the Chief Operating Officer (COO). He will be responsible for overall operations of Paytm Mall and expanding the team to ensure customers have access to the widest assortment of products across categories, delivered quickly through an efficient and optimised partner logistics network. Sinha has served in several key business roles in Paytm and helped implement critical business, HR and financial processes for the company.

Commenting on the development, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO, Paytm said, “At Paytm Mall, we are addressing a unique opportunity of giving small businesses and retailers access to mobile internet technology to address India's large mobile consumer base. Amit's experience in building various businesses since their inception makes him our best choice to lead our commerce business.”

“Our goal is to build the country’s largest platform that enables trusted partners including brand and merchants in growing their business. We are innovating on multiple aspects of business and offering newer business opportunities for sellers. Paytm Mall also aims to be the preferred destination for consumers looking for the largest selection of products being sold by trusted sellers," said Sinha.

Paytm recently de-merged its e-commerce business into a separate entity by the name of Paytm Mall to address India's large online retail opportunity. This new entity started off with the same shareholding as the parent company of Paytm, One97 Communications Limited and raised $200 million from SAIF Partners and Alibaba Group Holding. Paytm Mall works with retailers and brands to build their online stores integrated with supply chain in a partner model. It is currently targeting to launch its new app in a coming month.