PhonePe is now available at over 20 lakh stores in Maharashtra

PhonePe said that the ‘Stores' tab in the PhonePe app enables a seamless connection between the users and offline shops at scale throughout the country.

PhonePe (PhonePe)

Digital payments company PhonePe on Friday announced that it is now available as a live payment option at over 20 lakh shops in Maharashtra. The list not only includes small and medium business shops and kirana stores but also large organised retail stores across the state.

The company today announced that its service is currently live at over 1.3 crore offline shops across the country with Maharashtra accounting for the largest share of offline stores.

PhonePe said that it has built a comprehensive set of offerings to help offline merchant partners grow their business and attract more customers. One such feature is the ‘Stores' tab in the PhonePe app which enables a seamless connection between the users and offline shops at scale throughout the country.

Customers can easily discover a large number of offline shops in their vicinity and either call or chat with store owners to place their orders and shop from the comfort of their home. They can also pay the stores remotely for their purchases using the “Pay now feature” without needing to scan any QR codes.

In addition to that, PhonePe announced that it has also introduced a Digital Khata solution helping offline stores maintain easy records of customer transactions. In case the working capital gets stuck and the payments happen only when the customer comes to the shop next, the store can easily send a reminder for faster collection.

“This milestone is also a significant step in helping us move towards our goal of digitizing 2.5 crore offline stores across India, thereby contributing to the vision of a digital and less-cash economy. Going forward, we aim to increase our presence in Maharashtra's rural areas also and hence will be recruiting over 1700 more sales executives in the state over the next 3 months,” Vivek Lohcheb, Vice President - Offline Business Development, PhonePe said on the occasion.