Paytm to spend INR2 billion in fashion category

India: India’s leading e-commerce company, Paytm is planning to invest INR2 billion to expand its fashion category. The company plans to include small as well as bigger brands set-up online shops on its platform which would allow the brands to market their products on their platform.

The company is anticipated to include branded as well as unbranded players which currently occupy 70% of the online and offline sales in the fashion and apparels category. Paytm entered into e-commerce in April 2015 and since the orders have increased from 0.3 million a month to about 2 million orders currently. The company now plans to generate monthly sales of more than 2.1 crores through its platform by the end of this fiscal in the fashion and apparels category.

According to TechSci Research, online fashion and apparels category has been witnessing a significant growth over the past 2-3 years. The company has also been working closely with brands like Unilever, L'oreal, Only, Vero Moda, Jack & Jones etc. The company’s investment in fashion and apparels category is bound to increase the company’s revenue in the next 2-3 years and would also increase its presence in India’s E-commerce market.

According to a recent report published by TechSci Research, “India E-commerce Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2020”, the country’s e-commerce market is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 36% during 2015-2020. E-services segment, which comprises online travel, online payments, online classifieds, etc., is expected to continue its domination through 2020. However, the e-tail segment that includes electronics, apparels & accessories, health and personal care, etc., is expected to witness significantly higher market growth compared to e-services segment over the next five years. During 2015-20, the western region is expected to remain the largest e-commerce market in the country. Major players operating in India’s e-tail market include Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon.