Paytm launches enhanced app and Call Me option for efficient Online Selling

The more you can do with your time the easier your life is. Don’t let the fact that online retail is carried out over the internet fool you. There is a lot of running around that needs to be done. Time is money and the more time you lose, the more money you’ve wasted.

Ecommerce is a race and Paytm gets it. That’s why the etailer now has two very effective time-saving options:

1. Paytm’s enhanced seller app
2. Paytm “Call me” on the seller panel

According to emails sent by the etailer to its online sellers, the above-mentioned options can do the following

Paytm enhanced Seller App

The new and improved seller app from Paytm now allows online sellers to do more on the go. There are four new additions to the app that allow fast and efficient business for Paytm sellers.

A. View returns

This option allows online sellers to immediately access return history along with the reasons ffor the returns. With regards to in-transit orders, the location of the order is available for viewing and also the delivery status.

B. Business tips

In case expert guidance is a high priority requirement, sellers can acquire the assistance they need from Paytm’s expert tips and tricks on how to boost sales and improve overall performance with Paytm.

C. Multi-warehouse view and management

Now online sellers can view and mange their inventory in different warehouse thought this enhanced app feature.

D. New and improved home screen

The enhanced home screen of the Paytm app provides added information like insights, orders, payments and much more. This way online sellers have crucial requirements right the moment the app opens.

Paytm Call Me option 

Like we’ve already discussed, time is of the essence in online retail. So waiting around for marketplace response is bad for business. Luckily, Paytm understands the pressing need for quick action. As a result of this realization, the ecommerce company has introduced a call option on its seller panel.

(Obtained from Paytm email to online sellers)

How does Paytm’s Call Me service work?

Step 1 – Click Call me

Log into the Paytm seller panel and select the support tab at the top right. Pick an area of concern then refine the search. Fill in the details relevant to the requirement then click on the call me option.

Step 2 – Query researched

The Paytm representative will research the query/ concern made before calling the seller back.

Step 3 – Call back

Once the required information is obtained through research, Paytm will call the seller back for more details on the matter. Accordingly, an answer will be provided then and there or Paytm will consult with the required department and then get back to the seller with the required details.

Following this means of raising concerns is very fast and provides more clarity, claims Paytm. As a result, an online seller can resume selling immediately without any hassles.

Have you tried any of these new Paytm options? How do you rate them?

Snapdeal introduces elite buyers’ club ‘Gold’ to take on competitors’ buyer schemes

Looks like Amazon Prime and Flipkart First have competition. Leading ecommerce company Snapdeal has introduced ‘Gold’ for all its buyers. All prepaid purchases will be automatically eligible for Gold. There is no subscription fee involved.

What are the terms?

For a purchase to be eligible for Gold, the following conditions need to be fulfilled:

• It is fulfilled by Snapdeal, and
• The order is pre-paid (by card, Freecharge, gift cards or net banking).

Some advantages of Gold include no signing up required, no extra payment subscription required, free delivery, and a 14-day return period (as against the typical 7-day window). The only catch here is cash on delivery is not eligible for Gold.

Edge over the others

Snapdeal is looking at offering more advantages over Amazon and Flipkart in their offerings. Both the companies’ elite club require a payment, apart from requiring to sign up for the service. The move also appears to be Snapdeal’s way of minimising its COD orders.

Leading ecommerce companies are looking at ways to push their popularity with buyers. Amazon recently simplified its mobile app and got on more users. Myntra floated a try on service where shoppers could reject items that they did not like at their doorstep. As long as it is not at the cost of the sellers, experimentation should not be a problem.

Flipkart provides pick-up services for product transfers and enables freebie offers

Flipkart is getting in form for the festive season and it looks like the etailer has a few more facilities for sellers to enjoy.

The online marketplace notified its online sellers that it will be providing pick-up services to transfer their goods from their current location to its Hyderabad and Bhiwandi warehouse. This information was sent out two weeks ago via email.

How can online sellers avail of the pick-up service?

To utilise this service, Flipkart sellers must first schedule a consignment. This will allow them to book a slot with the third party logistics, for pick-up.

Once the consignment is created, sellers must book an appointment with the destination warehouse. The slot must be booked as per zonal wise TAT. The delivery TAT will be calculated after the pick-up date. This means if the expected pick-up date is 11th September and delivery TAT is 7 days, the delivery slot will be booked for 18th September.

In case a slot is not available on the date after calculating delivery TAT, any available date post that date must be booked and the form accordingly filled. Always book a slot based on zonal wise delivery time to the warehouse in your location.

Only once a slot at the warehouse is booked, sellers must fill the necessary online form. Upon completing the form Flipkart will send out a confirmation email then the third party logistics will contact the seller for pick-up coordination.

The form must be filled up before 2 pm for next day pick-up. Also, sellers must provide the logistics provider a 4-hour window for the pick-up.

What are the pick-up rates?

To know the charges of this services online sellers must refer to the rate card for chargeable rates of pickups.

(Obtained from Flipkart email to online sellers)

All payments to the third party logistics can be made at the time of pick-up. A cheque must be provided in the name of V-xpress.

Flipkart Freebies for Advantage sellers

On the 11th of August, Flipkart emailed sellers about the commencement of its freebie policy for all Flipkart Advantage (FA) sellers. These sellers are now allowed to offer freebies on their FA and non-FA products.

What are Freebies?

Freebies are free products provided upon the purchase of a specific product. It is a type of promotion facility initiated by Flipkart. The idea behind this is to increase the attractiveness of seller goods and accordingly boost sales.

How to offer Freebies on Flipkart?

To add a freebie, sellers must ensure the freebie and the primary product are both in the same warehouse. To create a freebie promotion sellers must:

Step 1 – log into the Flipkart seller hub and select promotions, then my promotions on the drop-down menu.

Step 2 – Click “create promotion” on the “my promotions” homepage. Sellers can upload a .CSV file of the product listing which the freebie product will accompany or create the offer on the website itself. For this, the seller must choose listings by select verticals which is mandatory, the price range and the product brand.

Step 3 – Once the listings are provided click the continue button then select a freebie product. Next, enter the start and end date of the freebie promotion offer and name it for your reference.

Step 4 – Finally hit the submit button and the promotion will become live on the start date set. The details of the promotion will be available on the “my promotions” dashboard for the seller to see.

Flipkart states that only one freebie can be offered in a single promotion and once the freebie goes out of stock the offer becomes inactive. The moment the freebie is restocked the promotion will go live again.

Annualised GMV for ecommerce firms in India dips 10% in Q2

Annualised GMV for ecommerce companies in India fell 5-10 per cent in the second quarter of 2016 to USD 13 billion, impacted by fewer discounts by players like Flipkart and Snapdeal, research firm RedSeer said today.

“While there was a strong growth pattern in calendar year 2015, the annualised gross merchandise value (GMV) run rate for the Indian e-tailing industry dropped sharply in size in both quarters of 2016 till date,” RedSeer Consulting Founder and CEO Anil Kumar told reporters here.

Gross Merchandise Value or GMV refers to the total sales made through an ecommerce platform. The quarterly/monthly GMV figure is projected for the full year to arrive at the annualised GMV run rate.

He added that the run rate has fallen from USD 17 billion in the last quarter of 2015 to USD 14 billion in January-March 2016 and further down to USD 13 billion in the consecutive quarter.

“However, driven by increasing Internet and smartphone penetration (especially in tier II cities), growing disposal income and increasing comfort with online shopping across categories, the GMV is expected to grow at a CAGR of 50-60 per cent to USD 80-100 billion by 2020,” he said.

Talking about the coming quarters, he said, “Q3 is expected to be flat, while by Q4, we should see the GMV going back to about USD 17 billion, helped by the festive season”. Kumar attributed the fall in GMV run rate to ecommerce companies offering fewer discounts as part of their efforts to curtail cash burn.

“Going ahead, we may see the discounts being offered under special sale offers instead of being spread out throughout the year,” he said.

Asked about consolidation in the ecommerce industry in India, Kumar said, “We expect there will be 2-3 players who would account for 70 per cent of the market.”

Over the past few quarters, the online retail industry has seen a large number of acquisitions as well as shutdowns, as some of the companies have struggled to grow amid heated competition and drying up of investor funds.

Recently, Myntra (which was bought by Flipkart) acquired rival Jabong for USD 70 million. Last year, Snapdeal had bought Exclusively.com to strengthen its fashion business. According to RedSeer, the average order value (AOV) will grow marginally from USD 33 (in 2015) to USD 36 (in 2020), while number of monthly transactions per shopper is pegged to grow from 1.5 to 1.9 over the same time frame.

“While the AOV won’t go up drastically, the growth will be driven by addition of new users and more consumers shopping online for high frequency categories like fashion and FMCG,” Kumar said.

The number of internet users in the country is expected to grow from 370 million in 2015 to 600 million by 2020. Similarly, the percentage of online shoppers is also expected to go up to 16 per cent (96 million) in 2020 from 5.7 per cent (21 million) in 2015.

Kumar said users cite reasons like lack of ease in e-shopping, slow internet speed and lack of reliability of delivery for not shopping online.

“However, most of these current barriers will pose only a limited threat to online shoppers by 2020,” he added. Going forward, fashion is expected to become an important category for ecommerce players, accounting for 36 per cent of the market from 20 per cent now.

“Online fashion market has a very low penetration in India, whereas for mature markets like China and US, the penetration of fashion to the overall industry is as high as 30-35 per cent,” RedSeer Engagement Manager Mrigank Gutgutia said.

Going ahead, ecommerce companies should work on increasing comfort of shoppers from tier II cities, deepen understanding of customers with respect to their actual shopping needs and localise advertising campaigns to fuel growth, he added.

“They should also continue to invest in reliable and fast delivery to remove a major pain point amongst non-shoppers currently,” he added.

Limeroad introduces incentive & penalty policy to keep seller standards in check

Quality customer experience is essential on every marketplace. At the same time, online sellers cannot be ignored. There is a way, however, for online shoppers to get the special treatment and top online sellers to keep their reputation and good will intact.

Limeroad has introduced a specialised incentive and penalty policy, through which it can maintain excellent seller standards and customer experience. The concept behind the policy is delivering excellent customer experiences through online sellers. An email from the Limeroad team informed sellers that the policy would be visible on the seller panel at the start of August and implemented from 16th August 2016.

How does it work?

According to the Limeroad incentive and penalty policy, online sellers are entitled to certain incentives for a job well done and penalties for weak performance.

The criteria for incentives:

• Get 1% of the order value when shipped on the same calendar day when the order was placed
• Get 0.3% of the order value when shipped on the next calendar day when the order was placed
• Receive payment settlement on the next day of order delivery instead of the standard 15 days, for this:

– Sellers must have no penalty for the last 2 months

– All of the sellers products on other marketplaces are also live on Limeroad

– Product prices are not higher on Limeroad and lower on other marketplaces

The criteria for penalties:

• Order cancellations due to manifest delays, out of stock or quality issues will attract a penalty of Rs. 250
• If product returns on account of the wrong product or defective/damaged products being exceed 1% per month, a penalty of Rs. 250 will be charged
• If product returns on account of quality issues exceed 5% in a month, a penalty of Rs. 250 will be imposed
• A penalty of Rs. 250 will be charged per short shipped unit
• Shipping delays beyond the SLA period will attract penalties (The shipping SLA is 1 calendar day, except for designer brands for which the SLA depends on the time taken for the manufacturing and designing of the product once the order is received.)

– 1 day delay will attract a penalty of 2.5% of the order value

– 2 day delay will attract a penalty of 5% of the order value

– 3 day delay will attract a penalty of 10% of the order value

– 4 day delay will attract a penalty of 50% of the order value

– 5 day delay will attract a penalty of 50% of the order value or Rs.500, whichever is higher. Also, the order will be cancelled.

Note – Limeroad specified that Sundays and national holidays will not add to delay days.

The incentive and penalty amounts will be considered at the time of calculating payments due to sellers. Accordingly, payment settlements will be made.

How will Limeroad ensure the returns made are authentic?

Limeroad informed sellers that all returns made will be verified and validated at the Limeroad warehouse. There the Limeroad quality check team will validate the returned goods through a stringent quality check process.

To ensure customers do not send cheap replacements or damaged goods again, they will be blocked. Limeroad says they have an internal process that blocks customers who return wrong products.

Likely hood of wrongful penalties?

1. In the event of delayed shipment of packaging material, will the seller be penalised?
2. Will the seller be penalised if the courier service delays pickups?

In case of the above situations, sellers must log on to the Manifest page on the Vendor Portal and inform Limeroad of the inability to dispatch orders. Once the input provided by the seller is validated, penalties will not be charged for delayed shipping.