Indian D2C brands increasingly sell in more than one place. An online store handles website orders, but exhibitions, pop-ups, craft markets, and retail counters need a physical payment solution too. Buying or renting a dedicated POS machine for occasional offline selling is expensive and inconvenient.
Cashfree’s softPOS app turns any Android phone into a payment counter: UPI QR codes, NFC tap-to-pay for cards, payment links, wallets, EMI and BNPL options, and cash collection recording, all from a free app on a phone you already carry.
The offline selling reality for online-first Indian D2C brands
Most Indian D2C brands start online. The website launches, the Instagram following builds, orders come in through the checkout. Then the opportunities for offline selling start appearing: a craft market that fits the brand perfectly, an invitation to exhibit at a curated pop-up, a retail partnership that needs on-site payment collection, a seasonal stall at a festival. Each of these is a real revenue opportunity, but they all require accepting payments in person.
The standard solution, a physical POS machine from a bank, comes with problems that make it a poor fit for occasional offline selling. Setup involves hardware procurement, bank approvals, and rental or purchase costs. The machine needs a SIM card or WiFi. It handles cards but typically needs a separate UPI QR setup. For a brand that sells at two pop-ups a year and a handful of exhibitions, the overhead of maintaining a dedicated POS machine doesn’t make operational sense. The phone you already carry is a better solution.
What Cashfree’s softPOS actually does
softPOS is an Android app available on the Google Play Store that converts any compatible Android phone into a POS machine. Once downloaded and set up against your Cashfree merchant account, your phone can accept payments in every format your customers might prefer at a physical counter, without any additional hardware beyond the phone itself for most payment types.
| Payment method | How it works on softPOS | Android version required |
| UPI QR code | Generate a QR code from the app; customer scans with any UPI app and pays | Android 6.0 or above |
| NFC Tap and Pay (cards) | Customer taps their NFC-enabled debit or credit card directly on the phone; payment processes instantly | Android 8.0 (Pie) or above, on models from 2018 onwards |
| Payment links | Generate a payment link from the app and share via WhatsApp or SMS; customer pays on their device | Android 6.0 or above |
| Wallets | Accepted through the standard payment flow | Android 6.0 or above |
| EMI and BNPL | Cashfree’s EMI and Buy Now Pay Later options available through the app | Android 6.0 or above |
| Cash recording | Log cash payments received in person so all collections appear in one dashboard, even when the customer pays in cash | Android 6.0 or above |
The practical implication for a pop-up stall is that a single Android phone covers every payment preference a customer might walk in with. UPI-first shoppers scan the QR. Card-payers tap. Customers who want to pay later get a payment link on WhatsApp. Cash payers are logged manually. All of it flows into the same Cashfree dashboard and settles into the same business account as online orders, with no separate reconciliation exercise across different payment streams.
What you need to get started
- A Cashfree merchant account with standard KYC completed. If you already accept online payments through Cashfree, the same account covers softPOS without a separate signup.
- An Android phone running Android 6.0 or above for most payment methods, or Android 8.0 (Pie) or above for NFC card tap payments. Most phones from 2018 onwards meet the NFC requirement.
- The softPOS app downloaded from the Google Play Store and logged in with your Cashfree merchant credentials.
- No additional hardware, no SIM-based terminal, no hardware rental fee.
For brands that also run an online WooCommerce store alongside their offline selling, Cashfree’s WooCommerce plugin handles the online side from the same account, so online and offline revenue are visible in one place without separate merchant accounts or reconciliation tools.
Managing a team at the stall: the multi-agent setup
For brands that operate with staff at exhibitions or retail counters, softPOS supports a multi-agent model. The business owner adds staff members as individual app users, each of whom downloads the app and logs in with OTP-based authentication. Each agent can accept payments independently through their own phone, and the business dashboard shows collections broken down by agent, so you can see exactly what each person collected across a selling day without manually tallying receipts.
Payments from all agents credit directly into the business bank account rather than into individual agent accounts, which removes the cash-handling and reconciliation overhead that typically comes with having multiple staff collect payments at a stall.
How this fits into a hybrid online-offline D2C operation
| Sales channel | Payment solution | What feeds into the dashboard |
| Website / ecommerce store | Cashfree payment gateway integration | Online orders, settlements, refunds |
| WooCommerce store | Cashfree WooCommerce plugin | Plugin orders and settlements |
| Pop-up / exhibition counter | softPOS app on Android phone | In-person UPI, card, and cash collections |
| Instagram DMs / WhatsApp orders | Payment links generated from dashboard | Payment link completions |
| International buyers at your stall | Payment links with cross-border support for international cards | International collections in foreign currency |
When a buyer at a pop-up happens to be an NRI or an international visitor wanting to pay by card from a foreign bank, a payment link generated from the softPOS dashboard with cross-border payment support for international buyers covers that transaction without requiring a separate international payment setup at the stall. For growing brands, the same Cashfree account that powers all of this also connects to the full online ecommerce payment suite, keeping the operational view consolidated as the business scales across channels.
The bottom line
Occasional offline selling shouldn’t mean carrying dedicated hardware or running a separate payment account. An Android phone with the softPOS app turns any stall, counter, or pop-up into a full-featured payment point that covers every method your customers prefer and connects back to the same business account and dashboard as your online store. For D2C brands that sell in person a few times a year, it’s the simplest way to make sure no sale is lost because the payment option wasn’t available.
FAQs
Do I need a separate POS machine to accept card payments at a pop-up in India?
Not if you use a softPOS app. Cashfree’s softPOS converts a compatible Android phone into a POS machine that accepts NFC card tap payments, UPI, payment links, wallets, and EMI options without any additional hardware beyond the phone itself.
Which Android version does softPOS require?
Android 6.0 or above for UPI QR codes, payment links, wallets, and cash recording. NFC Tap and Pay for card payments requires Android 8.0 (Pie) or above, which covers most Android phones from 2018 onwards.
Can multiple staff members use softPOS at the same event?
Yes. The business owner can add staff as individual app users, each using their own phone. Collections per agent are visible separately in the business dashboard, and all payments credit directly to the business account.
Does softPOS require an internet connection?
Payment processing via UPI, NFC tap, and payment links requires a data connection since transactions are processed online. Cash recording can be done offline and synced. Confirm current offline functionality with Cashfree for your specific setup.
How does softPOS fit with an existing Cashfree account for online payments?
SoftPOS runs on the same Cashfree merchant account as your online payment gateway. There is no separate signup or KYC process if you already accept online payments through Cashfree. Both online and softPOS collections appear in the same dashboard.
