Paytm Mall plans Rs1000 crore spend this festive season

Alibaba-backed Paytm Mall plans to spend about Rs 1,000 crore this festive season, which will see domestic e-commerce stalwarts Amazon and Flipkart get some tough competition as per media reports.

The Times of India reported that the amount earmarked will be used for marketing, cashbacks and promotions, but most of it will be spent on discounts.

According to another report in The Economic Times, the amount will be three-fold over last year's expense of about Rs300 crore by Amazon India, Flipkart and Snapdeal. New Delhi-based retailer Snapdeal is not in the fray, this year but Paytm Mall will more than compensate for it, according to commentators. It may also be pointed out that this will be the first festival season of Paytm Mall, which was spun off into a separate app in April this year.

The report said, the company plans to add about 5,000 branded stores to its platform ahead of festival season sales.

"This festive season, while online retailers will focus on spending money and taking away business from shops in the neighborhood, we will work with them and bring special offers for consumers to shop from their nearby markets by enabling these shopkeepers with mobile technology," Amit Sinha, COO, Paytm Mall, said.

''This festive season, we will give the power of technology in the hands of local shopkeepers to make this season big for them,'' The Hindu quoted Sinha.

''Our promise is to offer customers the best and biggest offers from trusted retailers and make our platform the de-facto first choice for online shopping,'' he said.

The company said, it planned to hire 2,000 people this year as it looked to boost operations to tap into the rapidly expanding market for e-commerce in the country.

''Since this is the company's first festive season sale since launch, it is aggressively on boarding shopkeepers and brand authorised stores across the country to offer a trusted buying experience and faster deliveries to consumers,'' the firm said.