Aims to provide one-clock entry to entry point to several online merchant platforms on 'PhonePe Switch'.
Business
Standard : PhonePe, a Fllipkart Group company which started
its journey in late 2015 as a startup focusing on digital
payments, is all set for its next phase of journey by hosting
other online commerce apps on its platform and driving traffic and
facilitating transactions. The Bengaluru-based firm, starting today,
unveiled a new in-app section called 'PhonePe Switch' which acts as a
'super app' integrating several other merchant apps and provide its
150 million odd users a single platform for their various online
shopping needs.
"PhonePe
Switch emphasises our efforts to build a partner app ecosystem
which offers our users a very convenient way to access and engage
with multiple apps," said Sameer Nigam, co-founder and CEO,
PhonePe. “While start-ups are able to acquire high-quality users at
low costs, larger partners get help in specific areas like driving
non-cash payments, growing their business in select geographies
etc.,” he added.
Currently
managing around 50 such apps in categories such as food, travel,
local commuting, grocery and others, the payments firm expects the
number to touch 500 by the year end. Some of the third-party apps
that are currently hosted on its platform include Ola, Eat.Fit,
Grofers, IRCTC and MakeMyTrip. A PhonePe user can access, say, the
Ola app, from within PhonePe without having to log into the Ola
account or come out of PhonePe.
“PhonePe
Switch and the other financial services products we are in the
process of launching will be revenue drivers for the company in the
long-run and help us achieve profitability, an area we will
dedicatedly focus on starting next year,” added Nigam.
PhonePe
‘Switch’ is a major part of the company’s strategy to become an
Internet services aggregator, which people will use for online
shopping to ordering food or cabs in place of separate applications
for these use-cases. Currently, PhonePe charges a small fee for a
merchant transaction using its payments platform.
Rituraj
Rautela, head of Apps Platform, said ‘Switch’ allows app
developers to run targeted offers and marketing, besides testing new
features faster on PhonePe’s user base. “Switch is a new
distribution platform for our partners, who may see lower cost of
acquisition for new users through us,” said Rautela.
Allowing
users, who are already logged-in onto the PhonePe, to use third-party
services within its app and over the same user experience, is also an
attempt to lock-in users to its ecosystem.
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