Recent years have seen the biggest shift in the bill payment culture. The rising use of smartphones, thanks to JIO and the Digital India campaign perfectly timed the advent of a technology that now seems inseparable from our lives. This technology, of a one-for-all UPI QR plus the reward of cash back made it a deal too tempting for anyone to resist. From the local pan dabbas where neatly in-shirt uncles slyly buy their cigarettes, to the multiplexes that host young couples in their corner seats: the scan-tap-pay culture has taken over every corner of the country — and it’s just the beginning.
Digitised payments
When Google Pay, then TEZ, came into the market, there was scepticism about its safety and features. But with the integration of UPI and the easy on-boarding with the Google account and phone number linked to the bank, everyone who’s anyone got on the Google Pay trend. It was a trend then because the motivation of most wasn’t to ease their lives with an additional payment option but to get cashback.
Some people received 100s even 1000s as cash back. And when this market started to boom, more players came into the market. PayTM, as an old player in the market, made its stance stronger. Others like Bharat Pay and PhonePe also joined and changed the game completely.
This change was especially seen by business owners who fund the convenience of digital payment as a luxury. For them, they were not only getting rewarded to be a partner with the players but also found it easier to keep a record of purchases and transactions.
One would assume that like any trend, this too took a nosedive. Especially when cashback’s got replaced with ‘better luck next time’ or 5 Rupee credits. Without surprise, it stuck around due to its immensely user-friendly and user-centric application. But is it matching up to its potential?
The New Age Of QR
This paves the way to a new age of QR, the one where cashback takes the form of reward points, and these reward points can be used to redeem vouchers to later purchase. Sounds too ideal or too futuristic?
Well, it’s not. A Hyderabad-based start-up, Zithara, is already doing it!
Creating a win, win, win situation for customers, retailers, and payment apps all at once, Zithara is on its way to creating a robust Eco-system that hits 3 birds with one stone, and how.
- For customers who are tired, nay, not even bothered to check the scratch cards; Zithara brings a system of reward points. Much like the ones seen with credit cards, these rewards or ‘Zi-Coins’ are redeemable on any voucher that offers discounts and more on all Zithara Partnered stores.
- For retailers who are yearning for walk-ins, Zithara lays out a red carpet for them to welcome customers. With its ai-backed marketing tool that is integrated within the app, and the promise of redeemable vouchers, these retailers maintain margins as they need not give deep discounts to attack footfall.
How Businesses Can Benefit
Businesses can gain so much with just the switch of a QR code, it almost feels like magic. Well with the kind of technology that Zithara is bringing to the table, it almost is. For small businesses digitizing payments was a big step in the long journey of highly engaging payments. Integrating with Zithara’s capabilities will take any business halfway there.
Zithara brings to customers a high network loyalty program experience that businesses can benefit from integrating for a higher customer retention rate. Improving the customer's lifetime value and, in some cases, even the average order value.
The bringing together of all this with the help of a simple QR code is where the real magic happens and portrays true advancement in fin-technology that even a business that wants to be successful needs to get on to.
The digital payment industry is about to witness a major transformation that will cause a stir in the market. This transformation is embodied in Zithara, which offers unmatched unified UPI features that are yet to face any real competition. It is imperative for any astute business owner seeking growth to recognise the potential of Zithara and take advantage of its unique features.
Why Zithara?
At Zithara, we’ve solved that unique problem. Merchants and customers are now comfortably and intuitively using UPI technology. So, with no additional technology, registered merchants at Zithara (Zi-Merchants) and their customers can perform the following actions:
1. Make a payment and Receive a payment
Customers can use the Zithara QR code to make a payment from their preferred UPI app.
2. Initiate a cashback to the customer
With Zithara’s QR code, the merchant can give a customised Zi-Coin cashback based on the bill value of the customer.
Zi-Coin is Zithara’s cash-replacement reward, which enables customers to extend their cash value to buy additional products and services.
Zi-Merchants have successfully encouraged their customers to spend more (with an effective increase of 40% in average bill value), and have seen twice the number of repeat purchases.
To register as a Zi-Merchant, click here
