For an Indian small business, the difference between paying 2.5% commission and 0% commission is significant. On ₹5 lakh of monthly orders, that's ₹12,500/month or ₹1.5 lakh/year. The good news: you don't need a payment gateway for most cases. Direct UPI works, costs nothing, and most Indian customers prefer it.
Why direct UPI beats payment gateways for small business
| Method | Commission | Settlement | Setup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct UPI ID / QR | 0% | Instant (seconds) | Already have it |
| Razorpay UPI | ~2% | T+1 to T+3 | KYC + onboarding |
| Instamojo | ~2-2.5% | T+1 to T+3 | KYC + onboarding |
| Cashfree / PayU | ~2-2.5% | T+1 to T+2 | KYC + onboarding |
| Card payments | ~2.5-3% | T+1 to T+3 | Gateway needed |
Payment gateways add real value when you sell to customers internationally, accept cards, or need EMI. For a domestic Indian small business — home bakery, boutique, tutor, kirana shop — direct UPI covers 90%+ of payments at zero cost.
Setup: 3 things you need
1. A UPI ID
Open any UPI app — PhonePe, GPay, Paytm, BHIM, your bank's app — and find your UPI ID. It looks like yourname@upi or 9876543210@ybl. This is what you share with customers.
2. A UPI QR code
Most UPI apps let you generate and download a QR code from your profile page. Save it and:
- Add it to your Storzu webstore (under Settings → Payment).
- Print and stick on your shop counter and packaging.
- Add it as a WhatsApp Business catalog photo.
3. A way to share with customers
After a customer confirms an order in WhatsApp, send the QR or UPI ID. Storzu can also auto-attach your UPI details to the post-order WhatsApp message so you don't have to type each time.
Tracking which payment is for which order
The biggest weakness of direct UPI is reconciliation — you get a list of incoming payments, but matching them to orders takes effort. Three workarounds:
- UPI note: Ask the customer to type their name or order number in the payment note. Most UPI apps allow this. Works 90% of the time.
- Round-up amount: If the order is ₹500, ask the customer to pay ₹501. Each customer gets a unique last digit. Works for low-volume.
- UPI link with intent:Generate a one-time UPI link with the amount and note pre-filled. Razorpay's UPI Smart Links do this — small fee but cleaner tracking.
When to upgrade to a payment gateway
Stick with direct UPI until at least one of these is true:
- You're shipping internationally and need card / wallet support.
- Volume is high enough that reconciliation is taking 2+ hours/week.
- You want to offer EMI for ₹10,000+ items.
- You're registering as a private limited company with proper invoicing.
Even at that point, most sellers run direct UPI for repeat customers (no fees) and a gateway for new ones (smoother UX).
How Storzu makes direct UPI simple
On Storzu, every product has an Order on WhatsAppbutton. The seller adds their UPI ID once in the dashboard. When a customer places an order, the WhatsApp message arrives in the seller's inbox; the seller replies with their UPI QR. Total cost: zero. Total time per order: under a minute.
Set up your free webstore + UPI in 5 minutes
Create your free Storzu webstore — share your UPI ID once, never pay commission again. Free forever.