Phrase “Paytm karo’ gained prominence
today with the milieu of demonetisation of higher denomination currencies in
India. One 97 Communications launched an online recharge portal by the name Paytm initially and upgraded it to an e
– wallet in the year 2014.
Paytm was a disruption in the
online payments space as the world is moving towards digital payments. The
biggest challenge for an online e - wallet earlier is the consumer behaviour.
The transaction of Indian consumers are predominantly cash driven. They trust
physical transactions (particularly involving cash) over virtual transactions.
Another area of concern is the idea of wallet. Wallet usually is in personal custody
and physical. But an e- wallet is in whose custody? (Read consumer confusion).
I presume when Paytm was launched, the market was not mature enough for a swift
change.
Luckily, for Paytm they were able
to capture trust among the techno savvy consumers through their online recharge
portal which got stretched to other products. The mobile wallet offered money transfers, bill
payments, and gifting options by understanding the hassle consumers face today
(due to busy lifestyle). The positioning was based on utility. You don’t want
to carry cash or walk to an ATM regularly but do all with Paytm.
The primary segments were tech
savvy young people with a smartphone. But later they counted in people in all
demography as well as geography as segments. Thus they urged a taxi driver to
accept hire charges through Paytm. To make the process simpler they introduced
QR codes. Hence, one can pay his auto rickshaw fare or grocery bill by scanning
the QR code with your smartphone which takes lesser time. The QR code, which
customers can scan on their mobile and pay their bills, can be seen behind the
rickshaw driver’s seat, at a grocery shop etc. Paytm rapidly added digital goods such as
movie tickets, tickets for flights, trains and events, and gift cards.
Another segment they added is the
off – line retailers by giving them a market place through O2O
(offline-to-online) commerce. In this model the payment portion of the whole
retail transaction is made online through Paytm. So consumer can choose the
product offline and pay through Paytm. Later the company added schools into
their basket.
Paytm is not devoid of
competition. E – wallets such as freecharge, Mobikwik, Oxigen along with mobile
service providers like Airtel, Vodofaone etc. and banks are now posing a stiff
challenge for Paytm. Nevertheless, the journey still continues for Paytm. The
new developments in the country instilled a forced change in consumer behaviour
which makes the future promising.
For me , Paytm is a perfect
marriage of technology and service.
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