Razorpay Launches ‘Q-Zap’ To Reduce Billing Time At Offline Stores

Fintech unicorn Razorpay’s offline payments arm Razorpay POS has launched a new payment solution ‘Q-Zap’ for offline retailers to reduce billing time. 

In a statement, the startup claimed that the suite can help merchants reduce in-store billing time by 40% and save up to 20% in annual operating costs.

The Q-Zap suite encompasses handheld devices, which store staff can use to accept payment from consumers anyplace within the store, and kiosks and vending machines, which allow self-checkout. On the software front, Q-Zap provides customised enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrations that allows store personnel to access customer info, product pricing, and update inventory in real-time. 

Razorpay said it has onboarded brands like Decathlon, Dominos, Airtel, and Carrefour for the new suite. It claims that the solution has driven an uptick in sales and customer retention for Carrefour, while it has smoothened operations for Decathlon. 

“Q-Zap, our queue-busting solution, aims to not only eliminate tedious checkout lines for customers but also to free up in-store staff’s time so they can be available to customers and provide them assistance, which could include answering questions or facilitating customer checkout,” Razorpay’s COO Rahul Kothari said in a statement. 

The company’s bid to bolster its point-of-sale (PoS) offerings comes at a time when the space is brimming with new innovations. For instance, its competitor BharatPe launched a new ‘all-in-one’ payment device ‘BharatPe One’, which integrates point-of-sale (PoS), QR code scanner, and speaker, earlier this year. 

While fintech players are experimenting with their PoS devices, deployment of new PoS was muted in the last fiscal year. The deployment of new PoS terminals rose by a mere 14% in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) as against growth of 28% and 29% witnessed in the preceding two years. As per RBI data, the number of PoS terminals stood at 8.9 Mn at the end of March 2024.

Earlier this year, Razorpay also launched instant refunds for failed Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions to further push PoS adoption. 

In December last year, the unicorn said that Razorpay POS witnessed a 40% year-on-year growth in its total payment volume (TPV) during April to October 2023. It claimed that 91% of the cumulative TPV during this period came from UPI transactions at the doorstep, while SMS pay contributed 9%.