Paytm seems to be on expansion overdrive – Just couple of days back they announced launch of Virtual China Bazaar in India where Indians will be able to buy over 10 crore Chinese products from sellers in China. And, Paytm is not just making online expansions – they are aggressively forging partnerships with offline players as well!
Today, in another announcement, Paytm has said they are set to roll out it’s Hyperlocal business which is expected to account for over 50 percent of its sales by end of next year.
According to the press release sent to us, the hyperlocal segment will initially focus on food ordering, table booking, cinema tickets, and deals in the neighborhood. To offer these services, it has entered into partnerships with leading companies including BookMyShow and Zomato amongst others for successful delivery of its hyperlocal services.
Last week, Paytm had also announced a partnership with The Mobilestore which will enable Paytm to deliver mobile phones to buyers in 2 hours flat.
Why Hyperlocal is Hot?
While the last 5 years were dominated by growth of e-Commerce, the rise of Smartphones has fast ushered the era of Mobile Commerce. Most eCommerce sites in India are now getting more business coming from mobiles as compared to Desktops. Flipkart has gone to an extent where they have made Myntra an mobile-only business.
With buyers in India getting comfortable with eCommerce as well as m-commerce, the next phase of growth in India is expected to come from Hyperlocal commerce – means use of mobiles or desktop to make purchases from local next-door stores.
Hyperlocal has a big advantage – the delivery time gets reduced to a fraction due to proximity of stores to buyers location. In case of Hyperlocal, delivery of products or services is possible even within minutes!
Paytm is betting big on this – Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO Paytm said, “Hyperlocal commerce is the proverbial, “next big thing” in m-commerce. It perfectly blends the convenience of buying from vendors in the vicinity and the ease of virtual retail. From groceries to consumer electronics, we expect majority of transactions to be driven by hyperlocal commerce in the near future. To tap into this extremely promising market, we are all set to launch our hyperlocal business”
Paytm has said they will soon be integrating their hyperlocal offerings in Paytm Wallet where products such as electronics and apparel will also be offered on the shopping app.
