What is verified, and what still needs testing?
UPI payment links can contain a payee address, name, amount and INR currency. Google's official payment documentation includes these fields. The QR in this app encodes that payment link locally. It is an amount-filled QR, not a provider-issued, amount-locked order.
Not yet verified: live payments across GPay, PhonePe, Paytm and BHIM; acceptance for your merchant address; whether this QR triggers your existing soundbox. No real payment has been made by the builder.
Paytm documents soundbox alerts for payments received on its Paytm QR. That does not establish that every custom QR pointing to a bank UPI ID will trigger the same box. Use the exact merchant UPI ID, and test the result. If the box stays silent, check the merchant app. Do not rely on a customer screenshot.
Payment test sheet
- Use the shop's merchant UPI ID and ₹1. Generate a QR.
- Scan from a second phone. Check resolved payee name and the pre-filled amount before authorising.
- Record whether the amount can be changed. Pre-filled does not mean locked.
- Complete the payment only if the payee is correct. Check actual receipt in the merchant app and whether the soundbox announces ₹1.
- Repeat with GPay, PhonePe, Paytm and BHIM, on the devices your customers use. Test ₹1.25 separately for decimals.
- Also try cancel, retry and two customers paying the same amount. The app cannot distinguish those payments automatically.
Stop condition: wrong payee, missing amount, rejected QR or unreliable receipt checking. Use the existing shop QR until resolved. This app checks UPI ID format, not account ownership.
Which shops should we visit?
The priorities below are workflow hypotheses, not findings from merchant interviews. National MSME registrations are not a count of addressable shops, and say nothing about willingness to pay for this tool.
| Shop | Typical counter flow to observe | Potential fit / friction |
|---|
| Hardware / electrical | List items → calculate total → say amount → scan → check receipt | High priority: varied totals; watch for existing billing software and credit sales. |
| Repair / garage | Parts + labour → quote/bill → collect balance → hand over item | High priority: one customer at a time; advances and split payments complicate totals. |
| Boutique / clothing | Choose items → discount → final total → payment | High priority for owner-run shops; chains often already have POS. |
| Salon / services | Service/package → total → pay → receipt | Medium: slower checkout makes showing a phone easier; QR alone may add little value. |
| Feed / agri supplies | Weight/quantity → rate → credit/balance → collection | Useful discovery segment given your family-shop experience; payment is only part of the ledger. |
| Kirana / pharmacy | Many items → total in POS or calculator → scan | Medium/low: speed matters; retyping a POS total can be worse. |
| Tea / street food | Fixed-price order → verbal total → static QR → soundbox | Low: hands busy, tiny tickets, printed QR always available. |
| Wholesale / coaching | Invoice/fees → partial or later payment → reconcile | Low for this MVP: needs references, credit tracking or remote collection. |
Existing alternatives
Printed QR + soundbox: no merchant typing, constant availability, familiar behaviour. Our app must beat this workflow in observed use.
Vyapar and myBillBook: already support UPI QR on invoices. Zoho POS + PhonePe: generates a QR at checkout and associates payments with the sale. Paytm Dynamic QR: provider integration enables order-level status checks. A standalone QR generator is not a new category.
Visit plan: 15 shops, then 5 pilots
Start near your home in Hinjewadi with 4 hardware/electrical shops, 3 repair counters, 3 boutiques, 2 salons, 2 kiranas and 1 feed/agri shop through your network. Ask permission to observe several UPI checkouts. Avoid the busiest time.
Ask: “Show me your last UPI payment.” “When did a customer last enter the wrong amount?” “What happened next?” “Where is your phone during checkout?” “Does anyone else collect payments?” “What billing app do you use?” “Can I time five checkouts with your usual QR and five with this?” Ask about actual examples before showing the demo.
Record baseline time, merchant taps, wrong amounts, box announcements, where the screen sits, battery/data interruptions and whether customers actually scan the new screen. Do not photograph customer payment details.
Our proposed go / no-go criteria
- Technical: correct recipient and amount across the apps used by each pilot; dependable merchant-side confirmation.
- Workflow: at least 3 of 5 pilots choose to use it without reminders for a week, and checkout time or corrections improve.
- Commercial: ask those merchants to pay for continued use. Test ₹49 / ₹99 per month as hypotheses, not researched market prices.
- No-go: owners keep returning to printed QR, cannot spare a display phone, or already have the flow in their billing app.
MVP decisions
No signup. Shop name + merchant UPI ID once, stored in this browser. Large amount entry and customer QR. English/Hindi/Marathi counter controls. No auto confirmation, payment ledger or fake success audio. Extra bill amounts are explicitly itemised; the UPI surcharge option includes the published restriction. No KYC collection because this app does not onboard a payment account or hold funds.
QR onboarding now reads payee ID and display name locally. It does not alter or preserve signed payloads, provider references or merchant category fields. A new basic payment link is generated, so existing soundbox compatibility still needs a live test.
Taking Smart QR live
Current publication is private. A merchant launch needs public access, a tested custom domain, clear privacy and terms pages, a support contact, real-device QR tests and a pilot. Payment confirmation remains manual. Browser data can be erased; no cloud backup or staff access is included.
Android can use a user-granted display-over-other-apps permission for a floating counter. No accessibility service is needed for manual amount entry. Banking apps may hide or reject overlays. Keep a regular app/notification shortcut as a fallback.
Recommended pilot pricing: free for the first five shops, then test ₹49 or ₹99 per shop per month. These are proposed experiments, not observed willingness to pay. Collect SaaS subscriptions through Razorpay separately; shop customer payments still go to the merchant’s own UPI ID.
Razorpay public pricing lists a 2% platform fee plus GST. At 18% GST on that fee, ₹99 subscription collection costs about ₹2.34 before account-specific terms. Verify your contract, subscription product and tax treatment.
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