It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Diwali for Mobile Payments
So maybe, maybe it’s a bit early to start thinking about Christmas. Most of the stores haven’t even started putting out decorations yet; that’s the kind of thing held off until Halloween or so. Yet the “festive season” isn’t just a North American thing; this time of year is also a major festive season for India as well, with Diwali, Dussehra, and Navaratri showing up over the next couple of months. And much like the Christmas season elsewhere, it’s prompting special effort from financial technology (fintech) and mobile payments firms to provide the founding of the feasts.
The stakes are a lot higher than you might think; eyes are already on Flipkart and Amazon India’s sales figures, which are expected to hit somewhere in the $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion range. Granted, these two companies often process a lot of their own payments in-house, but there’s still plenty of room for the newcomer firms and other more established systems to get in on at least a slice of the action.
BillDesk, for instance, is setting up extra support for the season, along with extra monitoring to help keep things safe during the season and accommodate the numbers of first-time shoppers that will likely be in the system.
The dominant firms Amazon India and Flipkart, meanwhile, won’t be trusting their dominance to survive; both firms are set to offer substantial incentives, including cashback programs, for those using Amazon Pay and PhonePe.
Other companies like Razorpay are working hard to make sure the systems will hold up under enhanced strain and load demands, conducting load tests and system audits to be ready for whatever the season can throw at them.
We’ve already seen what lengths companies in the United States are willing to go to on Black Friday to get customers in the door and shopping frantically, so why should other countries be different in their own festive seasons? It’s a great time to produce top-notch customer experiences and get customers coming back later.
Whether it’s gifts for the family at Diwali or a simple no-reason gift for a loving spouse, the company that can deliver the goods best, fastest and simplest is likely to be the one customers return to.