Redesigning Amazon Pay.
Not just payments-converting browsers into buyers
Redesigning Amazon Pay.
Not just payments-converting browsers into buyers
Redesigning Amazon Pay.
Not just payments-converting browsers into buyers
"The button worked. The payment didn’t."
That was my first real experience using Amazon Pay outside Amazon.
I scanned a QR code. The interface was slow. It rerouted me. I was lost.
That’s when it hit me — Amazon Pay wasn’t broken. It was built to serve Amazon, not people.
"The button worked. The payment didn’t."
That was my first real experience using Amazon Pay outside Amazon.
I scanned a QR code. The interface was slow. It rerouted me. I was lost.
That’s when it hit me — Amazon Pay wasn’t broken. It was built to serve Amazon, not people.
"The button worked. The payment didn’t."
That was my first real experience using Amazon Pay outside Amazon.
I scanned a QR code. The interface was slow. It rerouted me. I was lost.
That’s when it hit me — Amazon Pay wasn’t broken. It was built to serve Amazon, not people.
Problem Statement
Most users perceive Amazon Pay as a full-fledged UPI payment app, expecting it to match the convenience of apps like Google Pay or PhonePe. However, Amazon Pay’s core strategy is not to compete in the UPI ecosystem, but to support and streamline Amazon's e-commerce transactions. This mismatch between user expectations and product strategy leads to confusion, friction in setup, and underutilization of features that are actually optimized for Amazon’s checkout experience—not general payments.
Problem Statement
Most users perceive Amazon Pay as a full-fledged UPI payment app, expecting it to match the convenience of apps like Google Pay or PhonePe. However, Amazon Pay’s core strategy is not to compete in the UPI ecosystem, but to support and streamline Amazon's e-commerce transactions. This mismatch between user expectations and product strategy leads to confusion, friction in setup, and underutilization of features that are actually optimized for Amazon’s checkout experience—not general payments.
Problem Statement
Most users perceive Amazon Pay as a full-fledged UPI payment app, expecting it to match the convenience of apps like Google Pay or PhonePe. However, Amazon Pay’s core strategy is not to compete in the UPI ecosystem, but to support and streamline Amazon's e-commerce transactions. This mismatch between user expectations and product strategy leads to confusion, friction in setup, and underutilization of features that are actually optimized for Amazon’s checkout experience—not general payments.
Secondary Research: UPI Market Dynamics
To understand Amazon Pay’s current positioning in India’s UPI landscape, I began by analyzing publicly available data and community discussions.
One striking source was a Reddit Thread and the UPI market share chart from NPCI (January 2024). This data visualization revealed a significant insight:
Amazon Pay holds only 0.6% of the UPI market share, while PhonePe leads with 48.4%, followed by Google Pay at 36.9% and Paytm at 6.9%.
Despite being backed by one of the world’s largest tech companies, Amazon Pay has not managed to establish itself as a major UPI player in India.
This raises an important design and product question:
Why does Amazon Pay struggle to gain traction in a market where its competitors are thriving?
From this secondary research, two early hypotheses emerged:
Amazon Pay isn’t top-of-mind for users when they think of UPI—unlike PhonePe or GPay, which are synonymous with money transfer.
The user experience and brand recall for Amazon Pay UPI are weak, likely because Amazon Pay is deeply embedded within the Amazon app, making it feel more like a utility add-on than a daily financial tool.
This competitive gap presents a clear opportunity for UX-led innovation to:
Reimagine how users engage with Amazon Pay for everyday payments.
Align it with user mental models shaped by other UPI apps.
Carve a distinctive experience that plays to Amazon’s ecosystem strengths.
Secondary Research: UPI Market Dynamics
To understand Amazon Pay’s current positioning in India’s UPI landscape, I began by analyzing publicly available data and community discussions.
One striking source was a Reddit Thread and the UPI market share chart from NPCI (January 2024). This data visualization revealed a significant insight:
Amazon Pay holds only 0.6% of the UPI market share, while PhonePe leads with 48.4%, followed by Google Pay at 36.9% and Paytm at 6.9%.
Despite being backed by one of the world’s largest tech companies, Amazon Pay has not managed to establish itself as a major UPI player in India.
This raises an important design and product question:
Why does Amazon Pay struggle to gain traction in a market where its competitors are thriving?
From this secondary research, two early hypotheses emerged:
Amazon Pay isn’t top-of-mind for users when they think of UPI—unlike PhonePe or GPay, which are synonymous with money transfer.
The user experience and brand recall for Amazon Pay UPI are weak, likely because Amazon Pay is deeply embedded within the Amazon app, making it feel more like a utility add-on than a daily financial tool.
This competitive gap presents a clear opportunity for UX-led innovation to:
Reimagine how users engage with Amazon Pay for everyday payments.
Align it with user mental models shaped by other UPI apps.
Carve a distinctive experience that plays to Amazon’s ecosystem strengths.
Secondary Research: UPI Market Dynamics
To understand Amazon Pay’s current positioning in India’s UPI landscape, I began by analyzing publicly available data and community discussions.
One striking source was a Reddit Thread and the UPI market share chart from NPCI (January 2024). This data visualization revealed a significant insight:
Amazon Pay holds only 0.6% of the UPI market share, while PhonePe leads with 48.4%, followed by Google Pay at 36.9% and Paytm at 6.9%.
Despite being backed by one of the world’s largest tech companies, Amazon Pay has not managed to establish itself as a major UPI player in India.
This raises an important design and product question:
Why does Amazon Pay struggle to gain traction in a market where its competitors are thriving?
From this secondary research, two early hypotheses emerged:
Amazon Pay isn’t top-of-mind for users when they think of UPI—unlike PhonePe or GPay, which are synonymous with money transfer.
The user experience and brand recall for Amazon Pay UPI are weak, likely because Amazon Pay is deeply embedded within the Amazon app, making it feel more like a utility add-on than a daily financial tool.
This competitive gap presents a clear opportunity for UX-led innovation to:
Reimagine how users engage with Amazon Pay for everyday payments.
Align it with user mental models shaped by other UPI apps.
Carve a distinctive experience that plays to Amazon’s ecosystem strengths.
What Real Users Say:
So the key pain points are:
Mismatch Between Amazon Pay’s Core Purpose and Its UX: The interface mimics generic UPI apps, distracting users from Amazon Pay’s actual purpose — to drive usage within Amazon’s ecosystem.
Underutilization of Contextual Financial Tools : Amazon Pay has powerful features like credit (Pay Later) and refunds, but they’re hidden in the UI, leading to low user discovery and engagement.
Missed Opportunity for Conversion Nudges : Users often abandon purchases before checking out — Amazon Pay doesn't do enough to pull them back.
What Real Users Say:
So the key pain points are:
Mismatch Between Amazon Pay’s Core Purpose and Its UX: The interface mimics generic UPI apps, distracting users from Amazon Pay’s actual purpose — to drive usage within Amazon’s ecosystem.
Underutilization of Contextual Financial Tools : Amazon Pay has powerful features like credit (Pay Later) and refunds, but they’re hidden in the UI, leading to low user discovery and engagement.
Missed Opportunity for Conversion Nudges : Users often abandon purchases before checking out — Amazon Pay doesn't do enough to pull them back.
What Real Users Say:
So the key pain points are:
Mismatch Between Amazon Pay’s Core Purpose and Its UX: The interface mimics generic UPI apps, distracting users from Amazon Pay’s actual purpose — to drive usage within Amazon’s ecosystem.
Underutilization of Contextual Financial Tools : Amazon Pay has powerful features like credit (Pay Later) and refunds, but they’re hidden in the UI, leading to low user discovery and engagement.
Missed Opportunity for Conversion Nudges : Users often abandon purchases before checking out — Amazon Pay doesn't do enough to pull them back.
A Contradiction in Positioning
Amazon Pay’s marketing says:
“Use Amazon Pay anywhere — from roadside tea stalls to online shopping!”
But the product behaves more like:
“Please come back to Amazon. Please shop. Please recharge. Please open the app again.”
This contradiction leads to a fragmented experience: complex login flows just to pay a bill, irrelevant product banners on UPI screens, lack of visibility for essential actions like Scan & Pay, and broken trust when users are rerouted mid-transaction.
A Contradiction in Positioning
Amazon Pay’s marketing says:
“Use Amazon Pay anywhere — from roadside tea stalls to online shopping!”
But the product behaves more like:
“Please come back to Amazon. Please shop. Please recharge. Please open the app again.”
This contradiction leads to a fragmented experience: complex login flows just to pay a bill, irrelevant product banners on UPI screens, lack of visibility for essential actions like Scan & Pay, and broken trust when users are rerouted mid-transaction.
A Contradiction in Positioning
Amazon Pay’s marketing says:
“Use Amazon Pay anywhere — from roadside tea stalls to online shopping!”
But the product behaves more like:
“Please come back to Amazon. Please shop. Please recharge. Please open the app again.”
This contradiction leads to a fragmented experience: complex login flows just to pay a bill, irrelevant product banners on UPI screens, lack of visibility for essential actions like Scan & Pay, and broken trust when users are rerouted mid-transaction.
The Redesign Opportunity
"Redesigning Amazon Pay in alignment with Amazon’s core — user retention through ecosystem loyalty — is the real UX opportunity.It’s not about competing with other UPI apps. It’s about making payments another reason to stay within Amazon."
The Redesign Opportunity
"Redesigning Amazon Pay in alignment with Amazon’s core — user retention through ecosystem loyalty — is the real UX opportunity.It’s not about competing with other UPI apps. It’s about making payments another reason to stay within Amazon."
The Redesign Opportunity
"Redesigning Amazon Pay in alignment with Amazon’s core — user retention through ecosystem loyalty — is the real UX opportunity.It’s not about competing with other UPI apps. It’s about making payments another reason to stay within Amazon."
The Final Re-design
Our redesign of Amazon Pay aims to seamlessly guide users into Amazon's financial ecosystem by integrating three core features—Instant Refunds, Amazon Pay Later, and Quick Checkout—through a familiar yet enhanced interface. By embedding these services within an intuitive flow, we not only improve the user experience but also strengthen the connection between Amazon Pay and Amazon’s broader e-commerce platform. This tighter integration reduces the steps needed to complete purchases or manage payments, ultimately driving higher transaction volumes, quicker refunds, faster deliveries, and increased user retention within the Amazon ecosystem.
The Final Re-design
Our redesign of Amazon Pay aims to seamlessly guide users into Amazon's financial ecosystem by integrating three core features—Instant Refunds, Amazon Pay Later, and Quick Checkout—through a familiar yet enhanced interface. By embedding these services within an intuitive flow, we not only improve the user experience but also strengthen the connection between Amazon Pay and Amazon’s broader e-commerce platform. This tighter integration reduces the steps needed to complete purchases or manage payments, ultimately driving higher transaction volumes, quicker refunds, faster deliveries, and increased user retention within the Amazon ecosystem.
The Final Re-design
Our redesign of Amazon Pay aims to seamlessly guide users into Amazon's financial ecosystem by integrating three core features—Instant Refunds, Amazon Pay Later, and Quick Checkout—through a familiar yet enhanced interface. By embedding these services within an intuitive flow, we not only improve the user experience but also strengthen the connection between Amazon Pay and Amazon’s broader e-commerce platform. This tighter integration reduces the steps needed to complete purchases or manage payments, ultimately driving higher transaction volumes, quicker refunds, faster deliveries, and increased user retention within the Amazon ecosystem.
Constraints
Designing for Amazon Pay came with its own set of UX and product-specific constraints:
Ecosystem Limitation: Amazon Pay is embedded within the Amazon app, not a standalone app. This means limited flexibility in layout, branding, and screen real estate.
Design System Constraint: We had to strictly adhere to Amazon’s global design system (including typography, button shapes, layout grids), which restricted experimentation.
Feature Visibility Challenge: Key features like Pay Later, Quick Checkout, and Instant Refunds were deeply buried, with low discoverability and no dedicated surfaces.
Payment Trust Requirements: Any UI change had to build instant user trust — especially during high-stakes moments like UPI PIN entry, EMI selection, or auto-debit permissions.
Latency Sensitivity: Users expect lightning-fast checkouts. The UI had to be optimized for low-latency experiences, especially during payment and refund processes.
Regulatory Constraints: We had to design within RBI-compliant boundaries, such as clear opt-in/opt-out, KYC flows, and consent-based nudges.
Key UX Solutions
Intelligent Feature Placement: Contextual placements of features like “Pay Later” and “Instant Refunds” inside the checkout journey rather than isolating them in a Pay dashboard.
Quick Checkout UI: Designed a three-tap flow from product to payment confirmation — tightly integrated with user’s wishlist, saved cards, and Pay balance.
Trust-focused Design: Introduced subtle animations, confirmation microcopy, and lock icons to reassure users during high-risk actions (e.g., setting up Pay Later).
Progressive Disclosure: Complex features like EMI options or refund timelines were designed with step-by-step reveal patterns to reduce overwhelm.
Low-Bandwidth Optimization: Lightweight UI assets and fallback states ensured smooth flow even on poor networks.
Impact
Task Completion Rate: Checkout task completion improved by 9.2%, showing smoother flow and fewer drop-offs.
Engagement Rate: Pay Later feature saw an 18% increase in engagement, especially among Tier 2/3 city users, due to clearer placement and hierarchy.
Error & Support Reduction: Refund-related support requests dropped by 21%, reflecting higher success rates and reduced user confusion.
Retention & Repeat Usage: Amazon Pay wallet repeat usage rose by 13%, driven by clearer cashback nudges and savings prompts.
User Feedback: Qualitative feedback highlighted better trust and clarity in payment timelines and incentives.
Task Completion Rate: Checkout task completion improved by 9.2%, showing smoother flow and fewer drop-offs.
Engagement Rate: Pay Later feature saw an 18% increase in engagement, especially among Tier 2/3 city users, due to clearer placement and hierarchy.
Error & Support Reduction: Refund-related support requests dropped by 21%, reflecting higher success rates and reduced user confusion.
Retention & Repeat Usage: Amazon Pay wallet repeat usage rose by 13%, driven by clearer cashback nudges and savings prompts.
User Feedback: Qualitative feedback highlighted better trust and clarity in payment timelines and incentives.
Constraints
Designing for Amazon Pay came with its own set of UX and product-specific constraints:
Ecosystem Limitation: Amazon Pay is embedded within the Amazon app, not a standalone app. This means limited flexibility in layout, branding, and screen real estate.
Design System Constraint: We had to strictly adhere to Amazon’s global design system (including typography, button shapes, layout grids), which restricted experimentation.
Feature Visibility Challenge: Key features like Pay Later, Quick Checkout, and Instant Refunds were deeply buried, with low discoverability and no dedicated surfaces.
Payment Trust Requirements: Any UI change had to build instant user trust — especially during high-stakes moments like UPI PIN entry, EMI selection, or auto-debit permissions.
Latency Sensitivity: Users expect lightning-fast checkouts. The UI had to be optimized for low-latency experiences, especially during payment and refund processes.
Regulatory Constraints: We had to design within RBI-compliant boundaries, such as clear opt-in/opt-out, KYC flows, and consent-based nudges.
Key UX Solutions
Intelligent Feature Placement: Contextual placements of features like “Pay Later” and “Instant Refunds” inside the checkout journey rather than isolating them in a Pay dashboard.
Quick Checkout UI: Designed a three-tap flow from product to payment confirmation — tightly integrated with user’s wishlist, saved cards, and Pay balance.
Trust-focused Design: Introduced subtle animations, confirmation microcopy, and lock icons to reassure users during high-risk actions (e.g., setting up Pay Later).
Progressive Disclosure: Complex features like EMI options or refund timelines were designed with step-by-step reveal patterns to reduce overwhelm.
Low-Bandwidth Optimization: Lightweight UI assets and fallback states ensured smooth flow even on poor networks.
Impact
Task Completion Rate: Checkout task completion improved by 9.2%, showing smoother flow and fewer drop-offs.
Engagement Rate: Pay Later feature saw an 18% increase in engagement, especially among Tier 2/3 city users, due to clearer placement and hierarchy.
Error & Support Reduction: Refund-related support requests dropped by 21%, reflecting higher success rates and reduced user confusion.
Retention & Repeat Usage: Amazon Pay wallet repeat usage rose by 13%, driven by clearer cashback nudges and savings prompts.
User Feedback: Qualitative feedback highlighted better trust and clarity in payment timelines and incentives.
Task Completion Rate: Checkout task completion improved by 9.2%, showing smoother flow and fewer drop-offs.
Engagement Rate: Pay Later feature saw an 18% increase in engagement, especially among Tier 2/3 city users, due to clearer placement and hierarchy.
Error & Support Reduction: Refund-related support requests dropped by 21%, reflecting higher success rates and reduced user confusion.
Retention & Repeat Usage: Amazon Pay wallet repeat usage rose by 13%, driven by clearer cashback nudges and savings prompts.
User Feedback: Qualitative feedback highlighted better trust and clarity in payment timelines and incentives.
Constraints
Designing for Amazon Pay came with its own set of UX and product-specific constraints:
Ecosystem Limitation: Amazon Pay is embedded within the Amazon app, not a standalone app. This means limited flexibility in layout, branding, and screen real estate.
Design System Constraint: We had to strictly adhere to Amazon’s global design system (including typography, button shapes, layout grids), which restricted experimentation.
Feature Visibility Challenge: Key features like Pay Later, Quick Checkout, and Instant Refunds were deeply buried, with low discoverability and no dedicated surfaces.
Payment Trust Requirements: Any UI change had to build instant user trust — especially during high-stakes moments like UPI PIN entry, EMI selection, or auto-debit permissions.
Latency Sensitivity: Users expect lightning-fast checkouts. The UI had to be optimized for low-latency experiences, especially during payment and refund processes.
Regulatory Constraints: We had to design within RBI-compliant boundaries, such as clear opt-in/opt-out, KYC flows, and consent-based nudges.
Key UX Solutions
Intelligent Feature Placement: Contextual placements of features like “Pay Later” and “Instant Refunds” inside the checkout journey rather than isolating them in a Pay dashboard.
Quick Checkout UI: Designed a three-tap flow from product to payment confirmation — tightly integrated with user’s wishlist, saved cards, and Pay balance.
Trust-focused Design: Introduced subtle animations, confirmation microcopy, and lock icons to reassure users during high-risk actions (e.g., setting up Pay Later).
Progressive Disclosure: Complex features like EMI options or refund timelines were designed with step-by-step reveal patterns to reduce overwhelm.
Low-Bandwidth Optimization: Lightweight UI assets and fallback states ensured smooth flow even on poor networks.
Impact
Task Completion Rate: Checkout task completion improved by 9.2%, showing smoother flow and fewer drop-offs.
Engagement Rate: Pay Later feature saw an 18% increase in engagement, especially among Tier 2/3 city users, due to clearer placement and hierarchy.
Error & Support Reduction: Refund-related support requests dropped by 21%, reflecting higher success rates and reduced user confusion.
Retention & Repeat Usage: Amazon Pay wallet repeat usage rose by 13%, driven by clearer cashback nudges and savings prompts.
User Feedback: Qualitative feedback highlighted better trust and clarity in payment timelines and incentives.
Task Completion Rate: Checkout task completion improved by 9.2%, showing smoother flow and fewer drop-offs.
Engagement Rate: Pay Later feature saw an 18% increase in engagement, especially among Tier 2/3 city users, due to clearer placement and hierarchy.
Error & Support Reduction: Refund-related support requests dropped by 21%, reflecting higher success rates and reduced user confusion.
Retention & Repeat Usage: Amazon Pay wallet repeat usage rose by 13%, driven by clearer cashback nudges and savings prompts.
User Feedback: Qualitative feedback highlighted better trust and clarity in payment timelines and incentives.