Amazon Pay readies to deepen offline push with scan-and-pay service at neighbourhood stores

Amazon Pay, Amazon’s online payments processing service, is set to push deeper into the offline payments space. After introducing the payments service in department store chain Shoppers Stop (in which it owns a 5 percent stake) and readying to launch at grocery chain More, the online retailer is planning to take its payment service to customers shopping at small stores across the country.

Customers will soon find Amazon smile codes in retail neighbourhood stores where they can scan and pay for their purchases seamlessly. Amazon customers can use their Amazon app to scan the Smile code, discover the product, read reviews, ratings, and buy the product with Amazon Pay.

A spokesperson said, ”Amazon is committed to the long-term vision of a less-cash India and continues to invest in experiences that reduce customer friction, improve affordability, and foster everyday habits, thereby building preference for digital payment. We have begun introducing the Amazon smile code, a new way for our customers to shop and pay at physical stores, for example Shoppers Stop among others. Through Amazon smile codes, we are extending our best-in-class online shopping and payment experience to physical stores.”

Also read: What’s the future of digital payments in cash-reliant India?

Seamless and secure digital payments

Amazon recently announced the launch of Amazon Pay UPI for Android customers to make payments more secure and convenient. This offers a seamless and secure digital payment experience on Amazon.in. Through Amazon Pay UPI, the company is enabling customers paying through cash and bank accounts to make digital one-step payments. This launch will help accelerate adoption of merchant payments on UPI platform.

Payment giants like PhonePe and Paytm have competition as Amazon readies to enable UPI payments across mom-and-pop stores in the country. Amazon already uses a network of small shops as delivery units for customers; these small shops use UPI as a mode of payment. It is a matter of time till Amazon begins to tap that network and their customers, and brings them to Amazon Pay.

In the US, internet retail giant Amazon is making a push to popularise its Amazon Pay digital wallet in the US by piloting with restaurants, fuel stations, and other merchants that are not direct competitors. The move is a bid to challenge Apple Pay, the dominant mobile wallet in the US.

Also read: Debit card numbers are falling across India. Here’s why