Quikr in talks with MobiKwik, Paytm for in-site payment options on its platform

NEW DELHI & MUMBAI: Online and mobile classifieds website Quikr has initiated talks with prominent payment services providers to integrate their offerings on to its platform as the Bengaluru-headquartered company strives to stay ahead of the competition.

The Warburg Pincus and Tiger Global-backed company has held discussions with two of the country’s top mobile wallet providers, MobiKwik and Paytm, which, if successful, could see it provide in-site payment options to consumers as part of its end-to-end offerings.

Rival classifieds venture OLX, which is backed by South African internet and media company Naspers, is also considering providing similar services, according to Upasana Taku, head of business development and merchant operations at MobiKwik.

“We have been talking to both these players for almost a year. They also enable payments right now but it is only to help the buyer have a premium listing…These classifieds sites want to monetise on the transactions they are empowering and based on this consumer sentiment, they are getting more aggressive and interested in this,” said Taku.


Another prominent payment services provider, Mumbai-based Citrus Pay, is also believed to have had discussions with Quikr.

However, Citrus Pay founder Satyen Kothari declined to confirm this.

The need to provide payment services to existing and potential customers comes at a time when the classifieds sites are facing increased competition from realty and auto portals, two lucrative segments with high margins for which both Quikr and OLX are not only battling each other but also competing with companies such as CommonFloor.com, Housing.com and CarTrade.com.

“In the e-commerce space, it makes sense for companies to start looking at spreading themselves across the spectrum. You already see it happening – a mobile wallet becomes a marketplace, a taxi company is delivering food. It is also a new revenue line,” said Arvind Singhal, founder of retail advisory firm Technopak.

Pranay Chulet, founder and chief executive of Quikr, did not respond to an ET questionnaire sent earlier. Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, when contacted, also declined to comment.

The integration of payment services will allow the classifieds sites to provide a complete set of offerings to consumers across categories.

“They (Quikr and OLX) won’t participate in all transactions. But there is a large amount of purchases especially with phones, microwave, furniture, etc. in the less-than-Rs 20,000 range and that number of transactions is significantly large, and for that amount, people are willing to do the transaction digitally,” Taku said.

Spun off from eBay in 2008, and flush with private equity and strategic capital, the seven-year-old venture has been rolling out a variety of services, with a strong focus on its mobile platform, through which it derives about 80% of its traffic. It recently launched a messaging service called Quikr Nxt to bring buyers and sellers together on its online platform.

Quikr reportedly enables 1.5 million transactions on a monthly basis, spread across categories such as cars, real estate, jobs, household electronics and services.

ET was the first to report earlier this month that the company was in the midst of closing its latest round of funding, estimated at Rs 900 crore and led by Tiger Global, which will also see the entry of Hong Kong-based hedge fund Steadview Capital. The transaction is expected to double Quikr’s valuation to $700 million-$800 million (Rs 4,400-Rs 5,000 crore), according to people familiar with the matter.