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After a host of services launched for its sellers, the Alibaba backed mobile commerce platform, Paytm, has announced yet another development for its merchants. This time the company has announced its venture into the industrial supplies space to connect its merchants with SMEs.
Just two weeks back Paytm had announced an investment of $100 Mn (INR 640 Cr) into its “Go Big” platform to enable merchants to trade online and leverage Paytm marketplace’s benefits.
With this move Paytm will help its sellers tap India’s over INR10,000 Cr industrial supplies market and focus on the small and medium enterprise segment.
Renu Satti, VP- SME Business, Paytm said, “In alignment with our vision to be a true horizontal marketplace where customers will be able to buy everything they need, Paytm has extended its offerings and launched this category. We already have more than hundred existing merchants on board who will now be able to find a ready market in India’s bustling industrial supplies space. This move will also greatly facilitate SMEs with easy access to business and industrial requirements.”
According to Paytm, hundreds of merchants selling hand tools, power tools, safety and security equipment, test & measurement apparatuses, machines, lab supplies, abrasives etc have already signed up with the platform to sell their products. The listing is being done under the Industrial supplies category.
With this category of products sold, Paytm believes that it will benefit SMEs, who need to get in touch with different suppliers for different needs. Online availability will ensure that they are able to buy a large range of products conveniently at the best rate on one platform. With this, many merchants will also become buyers for this new range of products thus creating a complete ecosystem of online marketplace.
Paytm believes that a strong seller ecosystem will enable the company to prosper and scale business growth. In a bid to escalate company’s growth, Paytm plans to get about one lakh sellers online on its marketplace by the end of this year. It also has plans to expand its team of service partners to 10,000 in the next 5 months.
Paytm’s recent developments for its sellers are as follows:
# Launched a ‘Seller App’ with a zero commission model
# Announced an investment of $100 Mn (INR 640 Cr) into its “Go Big” platform
# Has tied up with multiple financing companies to offer convenient working capital loans for enlisted merchants
# Plans to launch its warehousing facility for its sellers covering over 100 cities by year end.
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