💸 Will UPI Integration Make the Software Expensive?
1. Technical Integration Costs
Direct UPI via bank APIs → Complex, requires regulatory compliance, higher dev cost. Third-party payment gateways (e.g., Razorpay, Paytm, Cashfree, Stripe India) → Provide UPI integration out of the box, but charge a small transaction fee (0.3–2%). For a small-scale setup like Ram’s Kitchen, it’s usually better to go through existing gateways than building UPI from scratch. 2. Software Licensing & Compliance
Direct UPI: Requires NPCI approval, compliance with PCI-DSS → expensive and complex. Gateway: No compliance headache — vendor handles it, Ram just uses their SDK/API. 3. Cost vs Value Trade-Off
Extra Cost: Transaction fee (tiny % per order). For 150 daily orders at ₹100 avg, that’s ~₹15,000/day turnover → fees maybe ₹150–200/day. Faster checkout → less queue. No cash handling → less counter chaos. Auto-confirmation in dashboard → no disputes.
So while payment gateway costs add up, the time saved + error reduction is worth it.
4. MVP Approach (Lean UX Thinking)
Phase 1: Keep payments simple — Cash & manual UPI QR at pickup (Ram scans and marks Paid in dashboard). Phase 2: Once adoption stabilizes, integrate gateway UPI for smoother experience. Phase 3: Auto-payment at ordering (optional if Ram scales).
