PhonePe Unveils Pincode: A Hyperlocal Commerce App On ONDC Ecosystem

PhonePe, the Walmart-backed fintech decacorn, has launched a new consumer-facing application called Pincode, which will be part of India's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) framework.

The app will focus on hyperlocal commerce and will initially launch in six categories:

• grocery,

• food,

• pharma,

• electronics,

• home decor,

• fashion

Starting from Bengaluru, it will be expanding city by city, reports Moneycontrol.

Customers can search for stores by browsing categories, and can have multiple carts at the same time with one active cart per store.

PhonePe aims to have one lakh (100,000) orders per day on the app by December. Pincode marks the first time a player has dedicated an app for ONDC, which is an initiative of the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce.

The company plans to limit its expansion to no more than 10 cities in the first year.

The rollout of ONDC began in September of last year, initially targeting only select pin codes in Bengaluru. As of now, the buyer-side applications for ONDC include Paytm, IDFC, Mystore, Craftsvilla, and Spice Money.

Recently, in March, ONDC expanded its services to include mobility in addition to food, grocery, and e-commerce. The onboarding of Namma Yatri onto the platform facilitated this expansion. Currently, two cities are in the beta stage, while 181 cities are in the alpha stage of ONDC's development.

PhonePe is presently operating in the e-commerce space through its 'Switch' platform, which offers a range of services including hotel and travel booking, food and grocery delivery, online pharmacy, metro booking, and other essential services. This is similar to its major competitor, Paytm.

Also Read: Six Months After It Became Fully Operational, A Reality Check On ONDC, The World’s First Interoperable E-Commerce Platform