{"id":23816,"date":"2025-08-07T13:52:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T08:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.razorpay.in\/blog\/?p=23816"},"modified":"2025-08-13T13:46:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T08:16:30","slug":"cracking-the-cod-code-how-meesho-razorpay-are-solving-payments-for-the-next-billion-bharat-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/cracking-the-cod-code-how-meesho-razorpay-are-solving-payments-for-the-next-billion-bharat-users\/","title":{"rendered":"Cracking the COD Code: How Meesho & Razorpay are Solving Payments for the Next Billion Bharat Users"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years, Cash on Delivery (COD) has been the complex, costly, and unavoidable reality of Indian e-commerce. For companies dreaming of reaching the country’s heartland, “solving for COD” isn’t just a business goal\u2014it’s the holy grail. It represents a monumental shift in user behavior, from the familiar comfort of cash to the new world of digital trust.<\/span><\/p>\n

We believe the key to cracking the COD conundrum isn’t just about discounts; it’s about architecting a digital payment experience that is simple, reliable, and trustworthy that it becomes the natural choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

To understand this vision, we sat down with <\/span>Aditya Vikram, Senior Director of Product at Meesho<\/b>, to discuss how they are tackling this challenge head-on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aditya, thank you for your time. Let’s start with the big one: Cash on Delivery. It’s a huge operational challenge in India. What is Meesho’s long-term vision for solving the COD puzzle, especially for your core user base in Bharat?<\/b><\/p>\n

Aditya Vikram:<\/b> Our belief that the experience of an online paid product is fundamentally different and better\u2014for the user and for the entire ecosystem. The long-term goal is to make the digital payment experience so seamless and superior that it becomes the preferred option. For our users in Bharat, this isn’t about forcing a change, but about winning them over by offering something demonstrably better than the status quo of cash.<\/span><\/p>\n

To shift users away from the comfort of COD, you need immense trust. You\u2019ve said that a “failed payment is a big trust break.” Could you elaborate on why payment reliability is the absolute foundation for this vision?<\/b><\/p>\n

Aditya Vikram:<\/b> It’s the entire foundation. For a first-time user, making an online transaction is always a high-anxiety moment. We\u2019ve learned that a failed payment is worse than a sold-out item. A sold-out item is a disappointment, but a failed payment shatters the fragile trust you’re trying to build. If you want a user to prepay for an order, you have to guarantee that their money is safe and the process is effortless. You simply cannot build a prepaid ecosystem on a foundation of unreliable payments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Building this trust in Bharat comes with its own unique hurdles. What are the specific challenges your users face that make them hesitant about digital payments?<\/b><\/p>\n

Aditya Vikram:<\/b> Our users outside of Tier 1 India face a unique set of constraints. They might be dealing with low internet connectivity or have limited experience with digital financial tools. These factors increase the anxiety around online payments. A complex, multi-step process is a non-starter. The solution has to be simple and resilient to these on-the-ground realities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given those challenges, a standard payment flow clearly isn’t enough. What was the specific technological solution you implemented to build this seamless user experience?<\/b><\/p>\n

Aditya Vikram:<\/b> Exactly. We needed a solution that felt native to our app and eliminated all possible friction. That’s why we partnered with Razorpay to implement <\/span>Turbo UPI<\/b>. It\u2019s powered by the <\/span>BHIM Vega<\/b> tech stack from NPCI, which was critical for us. This allows us to offer an inbuilt, one-click UPI experience directly within the Meesho app\u2014no redirects, no app-switching. By connecting directly to the core UPI infrastructure, it\u2019s not just faster, we believe that it’s incredibly reliable. This isn’t just a feature; it’s our strategic tool to make digital payments more convenient and trustworthy than COD.<\/span><\/p>\n

And is this strategy working? How is this new payment experience actually changing user behavior and helping in the mission to solve for COD?<\/b><\/p>\n

Aditya Vikram:<\/b> The results are very promising. We\u2019re seeing that when the prepaid experience is smooth, users adopt it and stick with it. This is creating two shifts in user behaviour:<\/span><\/p>\n