Backed by global giants like Alibaba and Softbank, PayTM is now said to be building a content war chest to tackle pre-existing rivals Amazon & Flipkart by launching an Over-The-Top (OTT) service.
Even though no comments have been made by a PayTM representative regarding the launch of OTT services, PayTM already has an existing tie-up with Yupp TV, which allows the company to offer some live TV channels to their consumers. However, the company realized that if they have to go head to head with Amazon, they will need more content. Amazon already provides video and music streaming through Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Music, the subscription of which is currently priced at Rs. 999 per year, and to topple that, Flipkart will need to pull some strings and get onboard some freshly brewed content. Reportedly, PayTM has already started the hiring process for the service, according to a report by ET.
“PayTM has been looking into the video service space for quite some time now but it is only now that they are formulating plans to set up a team to get to that. The idea is to have multiple services to attract more customers and boost up engagement,” said a highly placed source in an interview with The Economic Times.
Even Flipkart is planning to produce originals and could possibly bring onboard the already existing OTT service providers for content, which will further allow the company to offer its customers with a paid subscription, much like Amazon Prime.
According to the experts, the trend is for e-commerce giants to get into content as it will bring in more consumers and build a loyal user base. In a way, content is the new marketing budget for e-commerce companies.
Ashish Pherwani, partner, media & entertainment, EY India said, “Entertainment and news apps are visited up to eight times a day, and comprise around 30% of total time spent by a user on the phone. This aspect, if kept in mind, can be used to increase the time spent on apps that provide content and enhance customer acquisition efficiencies.”
Sameer Nair, chief executive of Applause Entertainment said, “As the markets and businesses are converging, it is all about share of wallet and share of time of the consumers. Especially for companies which have a direct connection with their customers like telecom and e-commerce sectors, it makes sense to add original content in the offering,”
“The challenge will initially be to build a compelling product that offers streaming video and music while retaining the customer on the platform so that share of mind and share of wallet is captured inside out,” Vikram Malhotra, CEO at Abundantia Entertainment said.
