By Alisha Singhal
When China was looking to enter the e-commerce space in India, it trusted Paytm to cruise through the country’s rough waters. With major players witnessing a loss of about Rs. 11, 754 crores in 2015-16, Paytm set out to do some disruptive innovation. After a successful strategy of establishing itself with the concept of mobile wallet Paytm launched its ?Paytm Mall?, which is a dedicated app and website for online marketplace business.
With the festive season coming in early this year, Paytm has reportedly kept side Rs. 1000 crores in the marketing budget, giving a major competition to big players like Flipkart and Amazon in India this year. The amount will be majorly used for discounts, apart from marketing, advertising and promotions.
Jump from 2016
In 2016, it was Amazon India that was competing with a huge marketing budget of about Rs. 125-130 crores against Flipkart. While Flipkart started its Big Billion Day on October 3, 2016, Amazon India planned to tackle it with its Great Festival Sale from October 1. While Amazon set aside its budget for marketing and promotions, Flipkart spent it on improving customer experience.
In comparison, this year both the giants will host small discount periods before commencing with big festive season promotions and discounts. This festive period is expected to be a competitive virtual playing field for the e-commerce industry which was witnessing tepid growth because of demonetization and the introduction of a new tax regime in July.
Consumers Rejoice
The winner in this intense competition between the ever growing and dynamic e-commerce space is definitely the consumer, with a?plethora of platforms and options to choose from who will be offering mouth-watering discounts.
Paytm mall updated its app to accommodate 1,000 brand stores and 15,000 brands, authorised retailers selling over 65 million products. Paytm Mall has brands such as Apple, Samsung, LG, Oppo, Sony, HP, Lenovo, JBL, Philips, Puma, Allen Solly, Lee, Pepe, Red Tape, Crocs, Levi?s, Vero Moda, Van Heusen, Woodland, Catwalk, Sketchers,? and Fossil, among others. Amazon and Flipkart already kick-started their run up to the festive season with discount events like the Great Indian Sale (May 11-14) and Big 10 (May 14- May 18).
Is festive season so critical?
Last year, despite Amazon?s marketing budget surpassing Flipkart?s, it was actually Flipkart that won the final battle with its sales of Rs. 3000 crores during the Big Billion Day period, stunning their rivals Amazon. With its effective marketing campaign, along with awareness using digital tools like Facebook 360 degree live video, Flipkart did wonders despite a lower budget.
Just like how November-December are crucial months for retailers in the US and the UK, September-October are crucial months for retailers, including e-commerce giants in India. A festive season is an annual event which is an opportunity for all kinds of marketplaces to attract consumers in mass numbers. It will, however, not be correct to imply that India is festive led e-commerce market.
Amazon came out with its much popular ?Chonkhpur Cheetah? campaign during the IPL season, which again attracted consumers in a big way. Retailers are not advised to limit themselves to the festive season because of how fickle minded the consumer can be with their purchase behaviour. Thus, it will be interesting to see if the kind of money that Paytm is looking to use for its discounts and marketing will actually result in the kind of results it is expecting.
