Alibaba-backed Paytm aims to become first major ecommerce company to turn profitable 

Paytm CEO - Vijay Shekhar Sharma

BENGALURU: The big ecommerce companies are busy drumming up gross sales, even if it means forsaking margins. Alibaba-backed Paytm wants to dance to a different tune. It's targeting to become the first major ecommerce company to turn profitable and has set a goal of 2017 to do so, CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said in an interview with ET. 

"We definitely want to be the first one to achieve breakeven. We are aggressive about growth and far more about breakeven and that's why we have an asset .. 

Indian ecommerce players, including Flipkart and Snapdeal, have aggressively chased growth of gross merchandise value, or gross sales, by discounting products deeply even if it meant giving up margins. 

However, as they begin to benefit from economies of scale and the pressure to inch towards better margins mounts, companies have pulled back on discounts and free shipping. 

Industry watchers say that an impending slowdown in late-stage funding is also likely to make companies  .. 

Source : The Economic Times