There’s no hiding the fact that Alibaba is gearing up for a spectacular entry into the Indian e-commerce ecosystem in the coming months. The Chinese behemoth has already started pumping in capital, setting up offices and hiring top tier management officials to lay the groundwork. In addition, there has been much hubbub that Paytm has spun-off its marketplace platform to pave the way for Alibaba — its primary and largest investor.
Now, a fresh report from ETtech further strengthen these claims. Citing sources aware of the developments, it states that about a couple dozen Chinese executives of Alibaba are currently working out of Paytm’s headquarters. These employees are said to be working closely with local senior-level executives to help transition the current e-commerce business into a suitable fit for Alibaba’s needs.
The Chinese executives are overseeing the integration of Alibaba-owned digital payment platform Alipay with Paytm’s e-commerce site,
said one of the source privy to the matter.
Paytm’s e-commerce marketplace is under construction and is ready to be spun-off in the new entity which has been registered as ‘Paytm E-commerce Pvt. Ltd.‘ Alibaba, on the other hand, has also been long rumored to debut its e-commerce services in the country. This separate Paytm entity is expected to debut this month, thus, it seems plausible that the two companies are working closely on the integration of their individual platforms. This belief is further strengthened with the addition of Alibaba’s global MD Guru Gowrappan to Paytm’s board as additional director late last month.
Both the companies have, however, debunked these reports stating that “its working relationship with the Alibaba group sees teams from both sides visiting each other’s offices regularly.” A Paytm spokesperson further adds that communication with its largest investor and believer allows for healthy discussions on the enhancement of their product and services. The Chinese giant has also denied the news of integration and called the same as “market rumors.”
We’ve ourselves contacted both the technology behemoths and will update you once we receive word.
