PhonePe taps into e-commerce with new shopping app, Pincode

PhonePe, India’s leading payments app, has tapped into e-commerce with the launch of its new shopping app called Pincode. Now available in Bengaluru, Pincode will connect customers with local shops for groceries, medicines, food, electronics, and home decor items. But instead of a conventional e-commerce platform, Pincode is powered by Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a government initiative that democratises e-commerce through no-commission trading. Also Read: New UPI Rules Roll Out Today: Here's What You Can And Can't Do Now On Google Pay, Paytm, PhonePe

Pincode is PhonePe’s attempt to place an early bet on ONDC, much like what it did with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) years back. PhonePe is now the leading UPI app — an achievement that has likely merited the launch of Pincode. While PhonePe’s new shopping app is currently available in Bengaluru, the Walmart-backed company hopes to widen Pincode’s availability in more cities. Also Read: New UPI Rules From August 1: Daily Limits, Fixed AutoPay Timings And More - All That's Changing

PhonePe claims Pincode will help neighbourhood stores strengthen their network by offering customers “a better and wider selection of products than [the] competition.” The platform will include products from national brands, as well as locally produced groceries, apparel, footwear, and accessories. With the help of ONDC, PhonePe wants to empower local sellers without asking for commissions, but it also onboards national chains, such as McDonald’s. PhonePe believes that its ONDC-powered platform will also benefit other ecosystems such as last mile logistics and inventory management. Also Read: UPI Payments Now 2X Faster With PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, More: Here’s How

Speaking on the launch of Pincode, Sameer Nigam, CEO and founder of PhonePe, said, “We are very excited to launch Pincode. Pincode is a brand-new shopping app and offers a revolutionary new approach to e-commerce, which puts all the local stores and sellers at the heart of the digital shopping growth story. Pincode is built on the ONDC network, which allows us to generate demand for merchants digitized by various seller platforms in an inclusive manner, while creating new opportunities for growth and driving innovation at scale. ’’