​Thanks to Paytm, you can now buy Chinese goods directly from China

Just in case you are still fancying ‘Made in China’ products, here’s some good news for you. Paytm, the Indian handcrafted mobile payment platform will now allow 1,00,000 sellers from Chinese e-tailer Alibaba’s online shopping portal AliExpress to start retailing in India. This initiative by Paytm from August is expected to double up the gross merchandise within 6 months.


As per a news report in The Economic Times, Paytm, which crossed $1.5 billion (about Rs 9,600 crore) in gross merchandise value (GMV) during the year till April end, expects an additional $1.5 billion from AliExpress business alone in the next six months

The development is part of Jack Ma-led Alibaba's plans to grow beyond China. The company bought 25% stake in Paytm for $650 million (about Rs 4,160 crore) in February, giving it access to India's $6 billion (Rs 38,400 crore) ecommerce market

Lakhotia told the the ET that customers will have an option to pay cash on delivery for all products they buy from Chinese merchants. "From a customer perspective, there'll be no difference between an Indian and a Chinese merchant. We'll be the one responsible for the logistics and customer care."

Paytm currently has 40,000 sellers in India, of which only 10,000 transact on a monthly basis. But the company expects to have 1,00,000 Chinese sellers right at the launch. This will require the company to scale up its infrastructure rapidly. Much of the $650-million funding from Alibaba is being used for this purpose, the company executives said.

Earlier this month, Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said the company will invest heavily in existing and new ventures abroad to become a global enterprise.


(Image: India Times)