Paytm Mall Delists 85K Sellers; Overhauls Sellers Onboarding Process

Paytm Mall has revamped its seller onboarding process. To this end, the ecommerce platform has delisted over 85K online sellers.

As per the new changes in seller onboarding process, the company will only look to partner with reputed shopkeepers and brands.

The company has made it mandatory for online sellers to furnish brand authorisation letters. It will bring their catalogues online, enabling a smoother discovery and buying experience for their products. The company will also provide the shops with Paytm Mall QR Code solution.

Amit Sinha, Chief Operating Officer – Paytm Mall said, “Our goal is to set the benchmark for a platform that empowers reputed local shopkeepers and brands to sell quality merchandise. We will work closely with existing sellers and continue onboarding further. This will help us offer a superior consumer experience.”

Paytm Mall is owned by Paytm Ecommerce Pvt. Ltd.  The ecommerce and payment platform launched its consumer shopping app Paytm Mall in February 2017. It is inspired by the model of China’s largest business-to-consumer (B2C) retail platform, TMall. In March 2017, Alibaba had invested $200 Mn in Paytm Mall.

As per the updated process, the online sellers will undergo quality and service audits. Their details will include registration numbers, shop location, shop photos, and GSTIN among others in order to lists their products on the platform.

This move is aimed to block fraudulent merchants from signing up on the ecommerce platform. The 85K online sellers have been delisted, as they failed to meet the quality standards.

Talking about the change in policy, Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma on Facebook said, “From (being an) open marketplace for any seller to now, only reputed and brand-authorised sellers. No more, bad shopping experience due to a few sellers. Now, only highly reputed and brand authorised retailers can sell on Paytm Mall.”

In addition to the revised process, Paytm Mall will also allow brands and shopkeepers to set the return, exchange, and refund policies for individual products being sold on the platform. As per a company statement, it will offer complete logistics support to brands and shops through its logistics partners.

Paytm Mall is also looking to scale its partner network by adding 3,000 agents to its existing workforce. The company is looking to venture deeper into Tier II and Tier III cities. It will look to digitise the catalogues of neighbourhood shopkeepers and brands authorised stores.

At the time of launch, the company claimed that the consumers will be able to shop from 1.4 Lakh sellers for products across categories like fashion, electronics, consumer durables, and home furnishings among others.

The delisting of a huge chunk of sellers can be seen as an effort to establish the authenticity of the ecommerce platform. The Alibaba-backed ecommerce marketplace is also gearing up to compete against ecommerce giants Amazon India and Flipkart. Earlier this month, reports surfaced that Paytm Mall was in talks with online grocery startup Bigbasket to invest $200 Mn for a substantial stake in order to enter the hyperlocal space.