PhonePe’s Pincode shuts quick commerce, B2C verticals; focus only on B2B

Pincode is PhonePe's dedicated app for ONDC

Pincode, the hyperlocal shopping app from fintech giant PhonePe, which operates on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) framework, is shutting down its business to consumer (B2C) vertical, which also offered deliveries in 15-30 minutes. It will now focus only on its business-to-business (B2B) arm, the company said on December 5.

Pincode is the second company to shut quick commerce, months after Dunzo paused operations amid intensifying competition from Blinkit, Swiggy’s Instamart and Zepto – the top three players who control over 90 percent of the market.

Other players such as Tata’s BigBasket, Flipkart Minutes and Amazon Now have further added to pressure, making it more difficult for companies to survive without heavy cash burn.

“...operating yet another B2C quick commerce app ourselves was distracting us from our core mission which is to help offline business partners achieve operational efficiency, improved margins and visibility and growth in their existing offline business,” PhonePe founder & Group CEO Sameer Nigam said.

Pincode will only help offline shopkeepers, of mom and pop shops, with technology solutions to help them grow their businesses, so they can “remain competitive against new age e-commerce and quick commerce companies”.

Pincode already provides inventory management, order management and other enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions to businesses. “It is offering B2B direct sourcing and replenishment solutions for certain categories,” Pincode CEO Vivek Lohcheb said.

Pincode has been reducing offerings and has tried multiple iterations over the past months.

It exited categories such as fashion and electronics to focus on hyperlocal and high-frequency segments such as food and grocery, Moneycontrol reported in April 2024.

It moved travel and transit to the main PhonePe app. The idea was to do physical goods via Pincode and digital via PhonePe app, a source had earlier said. But the plans did not yield positive results.