According to TechCrunch, Walmart-backed fintech giant PhonePe has shut down its Pincode e-commerce app, marking another retreat from India’s crowded online retail market. The company launched Pincode in April 2023 on the government-backed ONDC network, initially offering groceries, medicines, and electronics from local shops. It shifted to a quick-commerce model earlier this year, promising 10-minute deliveries in cities like Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai, but has now wound down the consumer service entirely. Founder Sameer Nigam said operating the app had become a distraction from the core focus on small retailers. The company, which filed confidential draft papers for an IPO in September targeting a mid-2026 listing, will now redirect the Pincode team to build B2B solutions. PhonePe had already digitized over 1,000 local stores through the initiative, providing them with digital storefronts and delivery services.
Another e-commerce pivot
Here’s the thing: this isn’t PhonePe’s first swing at e-commerce. Remember “Switch” back in 2019? That was their super-app play inside the payments app. Now Pincode is gone too. It seems like every few years they test the consumer shopping waters, only to pull back. And you can see why with Pincode. They tried a unique model using actual local kirana shops for 10-minute deliveries, unlike the dark-store armies of Blinkit or Zepto. But that differentiator wasn’t enough in a brutally competitive, cash-burning sector. Basically, they couldn’t gain ground. So now, it’s over.
The real strategy: B2B all along?
Look, the writing was on the wall. Earlier this year, Pincode exited all non-food categories. Then they doubled down on quick commerce, as reported, but that was probably a last-ditch effort. The real beneficiary of the whole Pincode experiment seems to have been PhonePe’s B2B arm. They used it as a live pilot to digitize those 1,000+ stores, giving them tools and delivery integration. Now, they’re cutting out the middleman—the consumer app—and going straight to the retailers. It’s a cleaner, more profitable focus. They already offer inventory and ERP software; now they can scale that without the distraction of competing with Swiggy.
IPO timing and a payments giant search
This move isn’t happening in a vacuum. PhonePe is prepping for a public listing, and investors want a clear, scalable story. Being India’s top UPI payments app is great, but growth there has limits. They need new revenue streams. A messy, money-losing quick-commerce war doesn’t look good in a prospectus. A high-margin B2B software and services play for millions of offline retailers? That’s a story Wall Street loves. It’s about operational efficiency and sticky software contracts, not discounting vegetables. So this shutdown is as much about cleaning up the narrative as it is about strategy. They’re trimming the fat to look lean and focused for that mid-2026 IPO target.
What now for online shopping?
So what does this tell us? The consumer e-commerce space, especially hyperlocal and quick commerce, is a graveyard for all but the most dedicated (and well-funded). PhonePe, even with Walmart’s backing, decided it wasn’t worth the fight. Their retreat reinforces the dominance of the specialist models—Swiggy for food, Blinkit/Zepto for q-commerce. For the local shops, they might not miss the Pincode app, but they’ll probably welcome the B2B tools if PhonePe can deliver real value. The company’s website, pincode.com, now just redirects to PhonePe. It’s a symbolic end. The experiment is over, and the pivot is complete. The question is, will this B2B focus finally be the side business that sticks?
