An offline e-commerce platform for you to buy tickets and pay bills

Here’s an e-commerce platform for those who are not online. IPay Tech, a start-up floated by serial entrepreneur Krishna Lakamsani, has developed a tablet-based solution that helps even small retailers such as kirana storeowners sell TVs, flight tickets, phones and remit utility bills.

“They could virtually sell what they have not sold so far. The good news is that (the retailer) need not worry about inventory and space to keep all the stuff. In a way, they are going to be Amazons or eBays for those who are not online,” Krishna Lakamsani, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of IPay Tech India, said.

The tablet, which comes with an embedded SIM, is priced at ₹8,888 and works on the basic connectivity provided by the telecom service provider.

Krishna, a member of Mumbai Angels and the Harvard Angel network, invested $1.2 million in IPay. The start-up employs 85 people.

He has invested in 18 other ventures in India.

Showcasing the tablet and a small point-of-sales (PoS) device here to retailers, company employees and newspersons, he said the system works even if the kirana store owner is illiterate.

As the consumer fills in the phone number in the format given on the tablet, a call goes to an operator at IPay’s call centre, who takes the order and requests the customer to make the payment at the store counter.

The order goes to the relevant vendor who delivers the product directly to the consumer.

The retailer will print a receipt from the PoS and an SMS lands on the consumer’s mobile.

“We have made refunds quite easy. If the order is not delivered yet, you can cancel it. We will send you a pin number that you can redeem with any retailer in our network, not necessarily where you placed the order. Retailers are encouraged to pay refunds as they get paid on each such refund,” he said.

The firm has conducted a beta launch in Hyderabad where 500 retailers have taken part, completing 17 lakh transactions for five lakh consumers over a period of 200 days. It plans to expand to other metros.