Paytm, which raised an undisclosed amount in fresh funding from Alibaba and Ant Financial last month, is entering the hyperlocal services vertical, starting with food ordering, table bookings, cinema tickets and deals in the user’s neighbourhood. The company mentions that it has entered into partnership with companies like BookMyShow and Zomato to provide these services.
It looks like Paytm has been preparing to enter the hyperlocal vertical for quite sometime now. Last month, the company said it would add movie and entertainment tickets on its platform within a week, although this feature is yet to launch. At the time, the company revealed that Bookmyshow, the biggest player in the entertainment ticketing industry would also be able to list as a seller on its ticketing platform.
Similarly in July, Paytm invested $50 million along with investors SAIF Partners and Tiger Global Management for establishing an online to offline app-only marketplace called Little. The ‘Little’ app would basically act as a discovery platform for customers while letting offline merchants sell online to users in the area. The startup would use the funds for hiring senior level employees, building up its technology and signing up merchants on its platform.
Last week, Paytm also started offering 2 hour mobile phone deliveries in partnership with The MobileStore. The service allows users to make a purchase, get it delivered in 2 hours as well as avail assistance on setting up the phone and familiarizing themselves with the device. Note that in April, the company had also launched an app called Zip which was to connect local offline and online grocers, as its foray into hyperlocal grocery services. However, the app was pulled within 2 months of launch.
Interestingly, Zomato, which has also tied-up with Paytm, started integrating Paytm as a payment gateway on its Zomato Order platform last month. Other than Zomato for food, BookMyShow for tickets, Little for neighbourhood deals and The MobileStore for phones, Paytm also has a tie-up with the hyperlocal on-demand transport and delivery services provider Jugnoo, which raised $5 million from Snow Leopard and Paytm in June.
100 million users: In August, Paytm claimed to have crossed 100 million users in the country, while carrying out over 75 million transactions per month. Earlier in July, Paytm also started offering industrial supplies on its platform including hand tools, power tools, safety and security equipment, test & measurement apparatuses, machines, lab supplies, abrasives etc.
Image source: Alan Light
