After the big tussle between search engine giant Google and Indian unicorn Paytm, the latter is pitching over the idea of an Indian App Store or national App Store. Paytm has today launched the Paytm Mini App Store within its own digital payments app.
The company is touting it to be an “Android Mini App Store” that relays on the idea of supporting Indian developers and helping them out to distribute their innovative services to the masses, which in this case to the majority of Paytm users.
However, instead of launching a full-fledged App Store service to take on the Google Play monopoly, Paytm is mostly integrating progressive Web apps (PWAs). These are light apps build using open source technologies like HTML and Javascript, and which runs just like an app in a web browser (in Paytm case inside the Paytm’s app) without actually requiring any downloads or installation. If you remember, long back Flipkart was one of the first Indian companies to launch PWAs of their mobile site. Also, Flipkart’s digital payment service app PhonePe already has a similar service called “Switch” in its app.
Paytm Mini App Store
Back to Paytm Mini App Store, its live inside the main Paytm app and are custom-built mobile website or PWAs as we said earlier, that gives users app-like experience without having to download them. Currently, there are more than 300 such Mini Apps including Decathalon, Ola, Rapido, Netmeds, 1MG, Domino’s Pizza, FreshMenu and NoBroker in the Paytm Mini App Store.
Paytm Mini App Store is designed to enable small developers and businesses to set up low-cost, quick-to-build mini-apps which can be built, using no-complicated development languages HTML and javascript technologies. Listing and distribution of these Mini Apps inside Paytm are free of any charges. The best part, you can easily integrate Paytm’s payment gateway which includes Paytm wallet, Paytm Payments Bank account and UPI at zero charges, and a small fee of 2 per cent on other instruments like credit cards. Also, you can integrate the Paytm login feature to auto-login/register Paytm users to your service.
For developers, Paytm will provide a powerful dashboard for analytics, payments collection, bookkeeping and various marketing tools to engage with the users. Currently, brands can run attractive cashback offers to Paytm users directly through the dashboard (Promo engine).
Paytm Mini App Store Features
- Paytm Mini Apps are listed and distributed directly through Paytm’s main app.
- User can easily access the Mini Apps by searching the brand name on Paytm.
- Mini Apps can be shared directly with your friends and family via any messaging app.
- Paytm Mini Apps are mainly progressive Web apps (PWAs) build using open source technologies like HTML and Javascript.
- Developers get a powerful dashboard to track Payments, analytics and various marketing tools to engage with the users.
- Support easy one-step login by pre-filling user details directly from Paytm.
- Brands can send push notifications through the Paytm App about new products and services as well as the order status.
- 0 per cent payment charges for Paytm Wallet, UPI, Paytm Payment Bank, and Rupay Debit Cards. 2 per cent charge on Credit cards and Net Banking.
- Automatically collect recurring payments from your users based on the user’s subscription plan.
To get started with the Mini App Store, open your Paytm app. On the homepage itself, there is a section called “Mini App Store”, which features selected few brands app. You can click on the “All” button to access the entire Mini Apps. There you can find Mini Apps based on the categories of your choice, trending Mini Apps and also various deals and cashback offered by Mini Apps. You can access any of these apps and even make payments, which are routed through Paytm payment gateway.
Paytm is reaching India developers to join the race and build a national level app ecosystem. For a peak on the usage and reach brands can get, the Mini App Store has been running in beta with select few Paytm users and during the test it witnessed over 12 million visits in September.