Why Earning Popcoin Through Pop UPI App is Virtually Useless

The strategies for user engagement in the fast-paced world of digital payments have grown very sophisticated. A company not only attracts and retains users by reward mechanisms but also provides them with incentives to prompt frequent transactions.

One such scheme that the POP UPI app has conceptualized is that of a rather novel reward system known as “Popcoins.”

They promise 2% on every UPI transaction in return, and the users can further utilize it in order to procure items within the POP app. At first, it seems a great offer in that it calls for more and more transactions to take place.

A closer examination shows that the Popcoins are grossly deficient in practical utility. Unlike reward programs that have concrete benefits, Popcoins are constrained by a very limited closed-loop system, which does not provide much practical utility and, therefore, diminishes their efficacy as a consumer incentive.

The article will be focusing on the structural flaws of Popcoins, its comparison with the established reward systems, and why it cannot provide real value to the user.

Closed Loop Nature of Popcoins: Critical Weak Point

One of the most basic weaknesses of Popcoins is the closed-loop nature. Cash back or loyalty points have some value which may be redeemed against any product sold by other merchants, but POPcoins may only be spent inside the POP application.

All consumers may accrue POPcoins via purchases but are limited as to which stores they could spend them at-the items catalog available through the POP platform.

This seriously restricts the flexibility and usability that users anticipate from a rewards system.

The more traditional forms of loyalty programs, such as credit card cashback offers or retailer-based reward points, tend to allow users to redeem their earnings in various ways, such as:

• Direct discounts on purchases
• Conversion into real currency or statement credits
• Usage across multiple brands and platforms

In stark contrast, Popcoins takes all the fun out of the rewarding experience and locks people into having to buy a closed market place, refusing the person the freedom of choice that traditional reward systems create.

This limits flexibility and goes a long way to reduce appeal.

Illustrative Example: The Speaker Purchase Dilemma

Let’s discuss this in a bit more detail by using a real example of a speaker purchase.

Now, assume that the user wants to purchase a Bluetooth speaker. The same speaker on Amazon, which is one of the most widely used e-commerce sites, is selling at ₹500. On the POP app, the same speaker is available at ₹600.

Although there is a balance of ₹100 in the user’s Popcoin account, when he attempts to buy it online, it charges ₹500 from his bank in the form of cash or through UPI at the time of purchase. Some of the main issues here arise in this illustration.

1. No Actual Saving: There are no actual savings for the customer; rather, it compels him to spend Popcoins where the same generally sells for higher money in that ecosystem.

2. Restricted choice: A consumer is held in by the offers that are up on the POP marketplace and he can’t hunt around and purchase from some other sellers like any consumer does with Amazon or Flipkart.

3. Forcing spends: That is to say, he is being compensated to buy even more simply because he needs his Popcoins; thus, cannot ‘exit’ the POP.

This illustration presents that Popcoins create an impression of value. Instead of having a very true form of recompense, they ‘perform’ as means of selling through the POP framework, and-as one would be able to accurately forecast-pretty much at above-market prices.

For better clarity on weaknesses of Popcoins, it is useful to compare with well-established mechanisms of rewards from credit card cashback programs to airline miles, retailer loyalty points, etc.

1. Credit Card Cash Back and Reward Points

Many banks offer cashback credit cards with a fixed percent cashback to the card user on eligible purchases. For example:

• A credit card offers 1.5 percent cashback for all online purchases.
• The cashback earned is directly credited to the user’s bank account or deducted from their bill.

Cashback is universally valuable as it reduces actual expenses. Users can spend it anywhere, rather than being forced to shop within a specific ecosystem.

2. Airline Miles and Hotel Rewards

Many frequent flyer programs offer airline miles, which can be redeemed for flights, upgrades, or even hotel stays. Importantly, these miles:

• Standardized by many airline partners.
• Many often allow redemption in other rewards programs.
• End holds real-world utility outside of being one airline.

Popcoins are straight up tied to the POP app, which doesn’t offer such flexibility.

Retailer Loyalty Programs

Mass retail behemoths like Amazon, Flipkart and Walmart offer loyalty programs in which users accrue points which can be redeemed for discount offers on future purchases. These programs:

• Immediately lower the price of subsequent transactions.
• broaden the availability of redemptions-that is, gift cards, discount cards, and private sales
• make highly consumable-not necessarily specific to any given merchant.

Popcoins lacks all of these advantages, making it a more unrealistic value than its parent counterpart is in reality

Reality Check Utility of UPI-based in POP System

The Utility of UPI-based in POP System is partially very less.

Upi has transformed digital transactions in the country to a great extent. The biggest challenge the POP app indubitably throws up for the interchange of cash between different devices is UPI. Its implementation is quite rigid as it remains largely within its silo.

This throws up many issues:

Lost Opportunities for Consumers

UPI is accepted at a scale of millions of merchants from local shops to e-commerce goliaths.

• However, with the POP app, UPI transactions are limited to buying only within its ecosystem, and thus users cannot utilize the potential of UPI.
• Users are forced into buying and selling in the POP Marketplace
• The app is creating an artificial need for the POP ecosystem
• It shackles their choices and dilutes the actual benefit of usage of UPI

Low adoption and engagement

There are many who would find other options more favorable to gain greater financial flexibility.

Keeping the transactions closed loop, POP UPI fails to attract openness and choice lovers.

That is what defeats the idea of using UPI to make it a universal payment tool, thereby reducing the charm of Popcoins.

User Criticism: What People Are Saying Online

POPcoins don’t seem to have pleased the users on several social media sites, especially X(formerly Twitter). Complaints among these are:

• “Popcoins are just a ploy! I tried to use them, but everything in the app is so pricey.”
• “It’s like cashback only usable at one place. So not helpful!”
• “I earn so many Popcoins but pay full price for almost everything. So, what’s the purpose?

These reactions reflect the fact that people see through marketing and know there is nothing much to being able to spend these Popcoins.

Final Judgment: Are the Popcoins Really Worth It?

Although the idea of receiving coins as a return for UPI transactions is highly alluring, the Popcoins do not really amount to something tangible. Some reasons are discussed below:

1. Limited Usefulness: They can only be used in the POP app.

2. Not a saving at all: This is completely washed away with highly inflated prices of the products.

3. Not flexible: Nothing like cash back or loyalty points, wherein this cannot be taken in the form of hard cash.

4. Restrictive UPI usage: Forcing transactions to occur within the POP ecosystem instead of empowering free-spending.

Popcoins essentially is a concept that works like a marketing system rather than offering any kind of incentive to the customer. With the closed-loop system, savings not available, and coercion towards spending through POP marketplace,

the entire concept works out to be significantly less rewarding than the good old rewards programs. For true monetary rewards, users are most likely to stick to cash back on credit cards, open-loop loyalty programs, and UPI transactions in its flexible mode.

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