Covid-19 has accelerated digital payments on e-commerce sites: Paytm Mall

Paytm Mall said Covid-19 has resulted in accelerating digital payments on e-commerce sites in India as more and more consumers shop online as part of shifting consumer behaviour in the pandemic.

“At an e-commerce ecosystem level, with the ongoing pandemic, we believe more people are now embracing digital payments, a trend that is set to continue and grow," Abhishek Rajan, chief operating officer of Paytm Mall, said.

Paytm Mall had already stopped cash-on-delivery (COD), a popular payment mode and a mainstay of e-commerce transactions in India, more than a year ago.


"At Paytm Mall, we promote digital transactions and do not have Cash on Delivery as a payment option,” Rajan said. “Not accepting cash has never been an issue for our customers as they anyway prefer paying via the Paytm wallet or other digital means.”

ET had reported earlier this month that a small number of retailers has now started to discourage COD option as the payment mode entails higher cancellations of orders at the time of deliveries.

According to e-commerce enabler, ANS Commerce between 10% and 30% of COD orders are returned by customers compared with 5%-15% for pre-paid orders.

So retailers including Puma and department store chain Iconic have started offering their online customers an upfront 5% discount if they choose digital modes of payment while Liberty Shoes charges an extra Rs 49 for a customer who prefers to pay at the time of delivery at their doorstep.