Paytm Mall, Paytm’s e-commerce platform, plans to hire 300 people as part of the online-to-offline (O2O) business strategy.
The company also said it recently hired 200 people.
Paytm Mall said that its online-to-offline (O2O) business has grown by over 200 percent in the last six months.
Paytm Mall has a substantial user base in Tier-II and -III cities, where products from local shopkeepers are available on the platform.
“We are observing strong traction for O2O with the business growing over 200 percent in the last six months, and have doubled down on this business model,” said Srinivas Mothey, senior vice president of Paytm Mall.
“We further plan to add an additional workforce of 300 people across business, technology and product in the next few months,” he added.
The e-commerce portal has also partnered with retail chains such as Croma, Reliance Digital and Big Bazaar.
It has tie-ups with brand exclusive stores, including Samsung, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, Oppo, Vivo, LG, Panasonic and IFB.
Alibaba-backed Indian e-commerce firm Paytm Mall has lost steam and the company plans to change its business model. Business Line reported in March.
The company has scaled down its B2C (business to consumer) business, shutting down the fulfilment centres and has almost stopped giving cash-backs.
The online traffic to Paytm Mall has dropped to 5 million per month in January 2019 from 45 million visitors a month in October last year, according to SimilarWeb, a New York-based website that provides web analytics for businesses.
Paytm Mall in October last year realized that the B2C model was not sustainable, and it needs to scale down the business slowly and switch to a B2B model with an online to offline (O2O) strategy.
The company acquired two hyperlocal deal marketplaces — Little and Nearbuy in 2017 — to strengthen its presence in the O2O business space.
The scaling down of the B2C business has hit several Paytm Mall sellers, who are now stuck with inventory.
Paytm Mall, which was started in 2017, raised more than Rs 2,900 crore in funding last year and has incurred huge losses. Paytm E-commerce reported 100 percent growth in its revenues for FY18 at Rs 775 crore and Rs 1,800 crore loss.
