Paytm’s ecommerce arm Paytm Mall is tightening the screws on its seller onboarding process. With the idea of enhancing consumer trust on the platform, it has made it mandatory for sellers to furnish brand authorization letters.
According to a company statement, every seller will undergo strict quality and service audits that will include their registration number, shop location, shop photos and GSTIN among others in order to lists their products on the platform.
This criteria blocks potential fraudulent merchant on signing up and creating a bad customer experience on the platform.
As a result of the new guidelines, Paytm Mall has delisted over 85,000 sellers and their products, which were failing to meet its strict quality standards.
In addition to the revised measures, Paytm Mall will enable brands and shopkeepers to set the return, exchange and refund policies for their products being sold on the platform.
“Our goal is to set the benchmark for a platform that empowers reputed local shopkeepers and brands to sell quality merchandise. We will work closely with existing sellers, and continue onboarding further. This will help us offer a superior consumer experience,” said Amit Sinha, Chief Operating Officer, Paytm Mall.
Additionally, Paytm Mall is scaling its partner network by adding 3,000 agents to its existing workforce as it goes deeper into tier II and tier III cities, digitizing catalogues of neighborhood shopkeepers and brands authorized stores.
Over a period of time, Paytm Mall has been aggressively expanding its online-to-offline strategy by partnering with shopkeepers and brands, bringing their catalogues online, enabling smoother discovery and buying experience for their products.
It has also given Paytm Mall QR Code solutions to shops, using which consumers will be able to scan and browse their products and place an order instantly.
It also introduced a new penalty and cancelation policies last week for sellers to enable reliable deliveries.
Paytm claims that this will empower local shops to get additional revenues from customers who will be able to buy their products online.