A payment checkout option that allows you to shop and pay later just with the tap of a finger?
Sounds simple right?
That’s exactly what the company is named – Simpl! And that’s exactly what they set out to deliver.
They banked in on consumers who don’t like using credit cards, and made available credit-based payments through just an app.
They’ve done it by reimagining the entire postpaid experience for the digital age, making everyday transactions effortless and seamless for both consumers and merchants.
So, if you’re curious to know how Simpl built a trusted brand, scaled across 26,000+ merchants, and used digital marketing to establish itself in a competitive fintech space, read on as we unravel their marketing strategy.
Simpl, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Bengaluru, is a one-tap checkout and Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) fintech platform transforming India’s e-commerce landscape.
By integrating seamlessly with 26,000+ merchants, Simpl enables consumers to make instant purchases and defer payment, either in full after 15 days or split across three interest-free instalments via its Pay-in-3 option.
The company’s business model capitalizes on data-driven credit underwriting.
Simpl gives users instant approval, and there is no paperwork needed. And merchants are charged a small fee for each transaction. At the same time, it makes credit access easier for shoppers and helps boost sales and loyalty for businesses.
Simpl Marketing Overview
Below are the 4p’s of marketing for Simpl.
Product
Simpl offers a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platform that provides users with 1-tap checkout, interest-free repayment options, and instant credit approval with no paperwork. It’s integrated across 26,000+ Indian merchants, streamlining payments for both consumers and businesses. For merchants, it enhances conversion rates and boosts customer loyalty by simplifying the payment experience.
Price
Simpl operates on a zero-cost model for consumers, offering interest-free credit for short durations. For merchants, a small fee per transaction is charged, positioned as a value-add that helps increase order volume and reduce cart abandonment. This pricing strategy encourages wide adoption among users and incentivises merchants to partner with Simpl.
Place
The service is available digitally via Simpl’s app and website, and integrated directly into merchant checkout flows across e-commerce, food delivery, healthcare, and other verticals. Through partnerships with popular Indian brands and platforms, Simpl ensures widespread visibility and ease of access at the point of purchase.
Promotion
Simpl’s digital marketing campaign used a multi-channel promotional strategy. It combined performance marketing (for app installs and conversions), SEO (to rank for commercial-intent keywords), and educational content (to inform users about BNPL). The brand also leveraged social media, influencer collaborations, and paid media to boost awareness and trust. For merchants, the promotion focused on showcasing business benefits like higher conversion rates and increased repeat purchases.
Simpl Website Overview
Simpl cleverly taps into a culturally familiar concept, the khata system, to position its digital BNPL solution in a way that immediately resonates with Indian users. In many Indian households and neighbourhood shops, a “khata” is a credit ledger where people jot down their purchases and settle payments later. It’s a trusted, informal credit method that has been used for generations.
By saying “One khata, for your online life”, Simpl bridges tradition with technology!
Pay-in-3 Service Page
Simpl’s Pay-in-3 service redefines flexibility in online payments. Tailored for modern Indian shoppers who seek convenience without financial strain, this feature allows users to split their total bill into three equal instalments, without interest or hidden fees.
The homepage copy is crisp and action-oriented: “Shop now, pay over 3 months”, immediately highlighting the key benefit. It’s followed by a line that makes users trust: “0% interest | no extra charges.”
This structure offers a frictionless and easy-to-understand experience, mirroring the simplicity the brand stands for. Whether you’re shopping on Myntra or ordering dinner on Swiggy, Simpl makes it easier to buy more without overspending at once.
Simpl Case Study Page
Guess what? Simpl has its own case study page!
The case study page highlights successful collaborations with top Indian brands. It demonstrates how Simpl Checkout has directly impacted business performance across different sectors.
Each case study includes measurable outcomes such as:
- The Bear House improving its checkout efficiency.
- Scitron achieving a 137% increase in prepaid share.
- BoAt witnessing a 60%-80% improvement in checkout success rate.
- Corsica enhancing online conversions.
- Sangeetha Mobiles streamlining post-delivery payments.
- Zappfresh and Doctor’s Choice solving for RTO and COD-related issues.
The layout is clean and modern, using clear visuals, data points, and brand logos to build credibility. With results, and a “View Case Study” CTA, it positions Simpl as a performance-driven tech partner for eCommerce brands.
This strategy not only strengthens Simpl’s authority but also serves as social proof, turning client success into marketing collateral that builds trust and drives conversions.
Simpl Digital Marketing Strategy
- Authority Score: 36
This score reflects the overall SEO strength of the domain based on factors like backlink quality, organic traffic, and domain trustworthiness. The score 36 suggests that the site has moderate authority and room to grow in terms of domain reputation and competitive strength.
- Organic Search Traffic: 21.7K (+3.3%)
The website receives approximately 21,700 monthly visits from organic (unpaid) search results, showing a 3.3% increase, which indicates positive growth in SEO performance and visibility for targeted keywords.
- Backlinks: 14.9K
The domain has 14,900 backlinks, which are external links from other websites. Backlinks are crucial for SEO, as they help improve domain authority and search engine rankings.
- Referring Domains: 1.2K
These backlinks come from 1,200 unique referring domains, indicating a good level of diversity. More referring domains typically mean a healthier and more credible backlink profile.
Keyword Strategy & SEO Architecture
To strengthen organic visibility and attract both consumers and merchants, Simpl deployed a multi-layered keyword strategy targeting branded, generic, transactional, and informational queries.
High-Priority Branded Keywords
These keywords were aimed at reinforcing brand identity and driving direct traffic:
- Simpl
- Simpl Pay Later
- Simpl for merchants
Generic & Transactional Keywords
These keywords targeted high-intent users searching for BNPL services and checkout solutions:
- Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)
- Recharge Now Pay Later
- Khata Book Online
- Khata for the Internet
- Pay Later
- Pay in 3
- One-tap checkout
Informational Keywords
To capture top-of-funnel traffic, Simpl also targeted FAQs and user queries to build trust and educate:
- simpl
- simple pay
- simple app
- simpl pay later to bank account
- what is simpl
- how does simpl work
- what happens if I don’t pay simpl bill
This structured keyword targeting helped Simpl rank for both commercial and educational searches, ensuring visibility across the customer journey, from awareness to conversion.
On-Page SEO Focus Areas
Now, let’s have a look at their on-page SEO, which is crucial for ranking for the keywords mentioned above.
Meta Tags
Simpl’s page titles and meta descriptions were crafted to be clean, concise, and brand-aligned. They consistently included high-priority and transactional keywords (e.g., Buy Now Pay Later, Simpl Pay Later), helping pages rank for relevant queries while improving click-through rates.
Header Tags (H1-H3)
Header tags followed a logical hierarchy, with primary keywords placed in H1s and supporting terms in subheadings (H2s and H3s). This structure improved content readability for users and crawlability for search engines.
URL Structure
Simpl maintained short, keyword-rich URLs with consistent formatting. Avoiding dynamic parameters ensured better indexing and a more user-friendly appearance in search results.
Example: /contact-sales, /merchants, /help, /d2c-simplified
Website Speed and Mobile Responsiveness
Simpl’s website performance, as measured, shows a moderate score of 62.
This indicates that while the website is functional, there is room for improvement in key performance metrics such as load time, interactivity, and visual stability, especially important for retaining users on mobile.
Backlink Strategy
Simpl has developed a robust and diverse backlink profile that supports both SEO authority and brand visibility.
Top Referring Domain Categories:
- Arts & Entertainment (20.5%) – 240 links
- Business & Industrial (13.3%) – 156 links
- Computers & Electronics (12.6%) – 147 links
- Internet & Telecom (8.2%) – 96 links
- Shopping (7%) – 82 links
These categories reflect broad content relevance and digital presence across consumer, tech, and finance ecosystems.
High-Authority Referring Domains Include:
- Business & Industrial publications like Moneycontrol, Economic Times, and YourStory, strengthening Simpl’s thought leadership in fintech.
- BNPL Industry Discussions, contributing to contextual backlinks from topical platforms and blogs.
- Partner Blogs & Integration Platforms such as Razorpay and Shopify, highlighting Simpl’s merchant ecosystem and product integrations.
This healthy backlink mix supports organic rankings, boosts domain authority, and builds trust among both consumers and merchants.
Types of Backlinks Built
Simpl’s backlink strategy focused on acquiring high-quality, contextually relevant links to strengthen domain authority and improve keyword rankings. The approach blended authority, niche relevance, and brand visibility.
High-DA Guest Posts
Guest posts were published on reputable finance, fintech, and e-commerce blogs. These placements helped Simpl gain industry recognition and drive referral traffic from targeted audiences.
Niche Edits
Contextual backlinks were added to existing content in BNPL-relevant articles. This allowed Simpl to earn credibility and improve topical relevance without creating new content from scratch.
PR Links
Media coverage in top-tier publications like Economic Times, Moneycontrol, and YourStory contributed to high-authority editorial backlinks. These not only improved SEO metrics but also enhanced Simpl’s reputation within the fintech ecosystem.
Business Listings
Profiles were created on trusted directories such as Crunchbase, G2, and Capterra. These listings bolstered Simpl’s online presence, especially for B2B search intent and discovery.
Content Marketing Strategy
Let’s look at the content marketing strategy of Simpl and how it was designed to attract, educate, and convert both consumers and merchants across different stages of the buyer journey.
Awareness (Top of Funnel – TOFU)
Simpl’s goal here was to drive traffic, build brand awareness, and educate both consumers and merchants about Simpl’s technology and the broader BNPL ecosystem. The strategy focused heavily on long-form, value-driven content optimised for SEO.
- Key Asset: The Engineering Blog
Simpl leveraged its Engineering Blog as a flagship content platform to demonstrate thought leadership and technical credibility. This helped attract not just end users, but also developers, product managers, and potential merchant partners.
Sample Topic:
- What is MOAT and Why Does It Matter for Brands?
This topic explores competitive advantages in tech products, tying into how Simpl builds defensibility through its infrastructure and user experience.
Consideration (Middle of Funnel – MOFU)
At this stage, the focus was on nurturing merchants and potential app users who were actively evaluating Simpl as a checkout or BNPL solution. The goal was to build trust, offer social proof, and clearly communicate the platform’s value through real-world examples.
- Key Asset: Case Studies Page
Hosted at /case-studies, this dedicated page featured detailed success stories from merchants like The Bear House and Scitron.
The case studies effectively demonstrated Simpl’s impact on key performance metrics such as improved conversion rates and reduced cart drop-offs. They also highlighted increased customer retention and repeat usage. This proved to be attractive for potential merchant partners.
Topic: The Bear House powered with Simpl Checkout
These case studies included clear, quantifiable metrics, such as a “30% uplift in prepaid conversions,” among other metrics, which made the impact instantly understandable.
Additionally, the content was highly relevant to Simpl’s target sectors, ecommerce, D2C, nutrition, and apparel. This ensured the stories resonated with the right audience and addressed industry-specific pain points.
Conversion (Bottom of Funnel – BOFU)
The primary objective at the BOFU stage was to drive direct merchant action, whether that meant signing up, starting the integration process, or contacting the sales team for a demo or consultation.
Key Asset: Merchants Page
The Simpl for Merchants page is a great example of BOFU content asset built to convert interest into action. Designed for decision-makers evaluating Simpl’s integration, the page clearly outlines the platform’s business value, boosting conversions, reducing cart drop-offs, and increasing repeat purchases.
Also, to guide prospects toward conversion, Simpl strategically placed “Simpl for Merchants” CTAs across its content ecosystem, including blogs, case studies, and landing pages.
These CTAs were contextually embedded, ensuring they felt natural while still encouraging action.
Simpl’s Social Media Strategy
Now, let’s jump into the world of Simpl’s social media, where BNPL meets bold visuals, killer content, and real-time engagement!
Followers: 32.6k
Simpl’s Instagram presence (@getsimpl) is a high-energy mix of memes, influencers, and real-life use cases, built to engage a digitally native audience while subtly reinforcing the value of their BNPL product.
- Relatable & Funny Content
From memes about “paying in 3 installments” to everyday moments like “showing my mom Simpl at checkout,” their posts lean into humour and cultural relevance. These posts are short, visually appealing, and built for scroll-stopping engagement.
- Influencer & UGC Integration
Simpl regularly features influencers and lifestyle creators, positioning their brand within everyday consumer behavior, coffee shops, gym life, shopping, and more. The use of authentic content helps humanize the brand and boosts relatability.
- Campaign Highlights & Collaborations
Dedicated highlight reels (like “Get Cashback” and “Partners”) and collabs such as Simpl x IGP help showcase promotions, brand partners, and seasonal offers, nudging users toward actual usage and app downloads.
- Clear Visual Identity
Their grid maintains a playful yet cohesive aesthetic, mixing dark-mode branding with bright, expressive thumbnails. This helps Simpl stand out in crowded feeds while staying on-brand.
Followers: 8k
Simpl’s Facebook content takes a more informational and educational approach compared to its Instagram presence, aiming to build product understanding and trust among a wider, slightly older audience.
- Reels with Product-Focused Messaging
Reels on Facebook highlight key product features with direct, benefit-led messaging like “One Feature, Multiple Benefits” or “Crime Shopping”. These short-form videos focus less on entertainment and more on functionality, perfect for users comparing BNPL options.
- Text-Based Informational Graphics
A large part of Simpl’s Facebook strategy includes static visuals and “Did You Know?” posts that explain product usage, safety, and benefits. These are designed to build trust and simplify the learning curve for new users.
- Topical & Festive Content
Simpl also taps into seasonal moments (e.g., Holi promotions) and lifestyle visuals that feel culturally relevant. These add a human touch and help the brand stay timely and relatable.
Followers: 11.1k
Simpl uses Twitter (@getsimpl) as a thought leadership and tech-forward channel, focusing more on engaging the developer, fintech, and startup communities rather than direct-to-consumer marketing.
- Talent & Hiring Focus
Several tweets highlight engineering and data roles, reflecting Simpl’s push to attract tech talent. Job openings are often framed as opportunities to work on meaningful challenges, positioning Simpl as a forward-thinking workplace in fintech.
- Long-Form Content Amplification
Simpl shares links to in-depth Medium articles and blog posts, like “Simpl – Under the Hood”, giving followers a peek into their tech stack, product philosophy, and culture. This helps build trust with developers, founders, and potential collaborators.
- Polls & User Insight
The use of Twitter polls, like the one comparing Khata Book, wallets, and digital cards, shows an effort to engage users, collect feedback, and validate product messaging. It’s an interactive way to stay in tune with audience preferences.
- Fintech-Flavoured Memes
With posts like “To win the game of payments, all you need is a little finger”, Simpl taps into pop culture (Game of Thrones) to craft witty, on-brand fintech memes, adding personality and relatability to their Twitter feed.
- Hashtag Strategy
Hashtags like #fintech, #onlinepayments, and #switchtoSimpl are used strategically to increase discoverability and connect with larger industry conversations.
Followers: 200k
On LinkedIn, Simpl positions itself as a B2B fintech enabler, using the platform to build credibility with merchants, partners, and industry professionals. The content is clean, results-focused, and designed to showcase Simpl’s impact across different verticals.
Simpl’s posts spotlight real merchant success stories, like its partnerships with Comet and Frido. These stories showcase quantifiable business outcomes, e.g., “Comet reduced RTOs by 10%”, highlighting how Simpl directly contributes to improved operational efficiency and customer experience.
Rather than selling directly, Simpl uses LinkedIn to communicate its strategic relevance, how it helps solve complex e-commerce issues like COD dependency, returns, and friction in checkout.
Simpl SWOT Analysis
Below is a SWOT analysis that we have carried out for Simpl.
|
STRENGTHS |
WEAKNESSES |
|---|---|
|
1. Frictionless UX: Patented 1-tap checkout reduces abandonment by 40%+ vs. traditional methods. |
1. Limited Market: India-only focus (vs. global players like Klarna). |
|
2. Massive Merchant Network: 26,000+ partners (Swiggy, Zomato, MakeMyTrip, etc.) drive ubiquity. |
2. Credit Model Risk: Reliance on underwriting for deferred payments; defaults impact margins. |
|
3. Trust & Security: Bank-grade encryption, no hidden fees, and transparent repayment terms. |
3. Narrow Use Case: Primarily tied to e-commerce/grocery (not yet embedded in utilities/offline retail). |
|
4. High User Loyalty: 7M+ active users; 80% repeat transaction rate. |
4. Regulatory Scrutiny: BNPL regulations evolving; compliance costs rising. |
|
OPPORTUNITIES |
THREATS |
|---|---|
|
1. Bharat Expansion: Tier 2/3 cities (500M+ internet users) are underpenetrated. |
1. Intense Competition: Rupifi, LazyPay, Amazon Pay Later, and bank-backed solutions. |
|
2. New Verticals: Offline retail, B2B payments, subscriptions (OTT, education). |
2. Regulatory Headwinds: RBI guidelines may cap credit lines or enforce stricter KYC. |
|
3. Embedded Finance: Cross-sell insurance, savings, or wealth products to users. |
3. Economic Downturns: Rising inflation may increase default rates among users. |
|
4. Global Partnerships: Collaborate with global players (e.g., Shopify, Stripe) for merchant exports. |
4. Merchant Consolidation: Large platforms (Flipkart, Amazon) may develop in-house BNPL solutions. |
Simpl’s Competition Landscape
Simpl operates in India’s rapidly evolving BNPL market, where it competes with both homegrown players and global giants. The competition can be categorized across three major fronts:
- Direct BNPL Rivals
These platforms offer similar pay-later functionality at checkout:
- LazyPay: Backed by PayU, offers personal credit lines and bill payments.
- Rupifi: Focused on B2B BNPL, popular among SME networks and marketplaces.
- ZestMoney: Provides EMI-based BNPL, including longer tenures with credit underwriting.
- ePayLater: Strong in travel and IRCTC integrations, offers deferred payment at scale.
- Big Tech & Fintech Giants
These companies integrate BNPL into larger ecosystems:
- Amazon Pay Later: Built-in for Amazon users; no new app friction; trusted brand.
- Flipkart Pay Later: Embedded in checkout flow; strong user base from e-commerce.
- Paytm Postpaid: Offers unified credit line for bills, shopping, and travel bookings.
- Bank-Backed Solutions
Traditional lenders entering the BNPL space with scale:
- ICICI PayLater / HDFC FlexiPay: Targeting salaried users with pre-approved credit lines.
- KreditBee / CASHe: Hybrid models offering BNPL + personal loans.
Competitive Edge of Simpl
While rivals often focus on EMI-driven BNPL, Simpl positions itself around frictionless UX and 1-tap checkout. This creates a micro-credit experience that feels more like a utility than a loan. Its massive merchant network and high user repeat rates are its advantages.
Keepin’ it Simpl
At Nico Digital, we keep it simple, just like your customers want it.
And we are also one of the fastest-growing digital marketing agencies in the game.
In a world full of noise, we focus on what works. From SEO and performance marketing to content that actually converts, our strategies are built on data, execution, and trust.
With a growing portfolio of global brands and a 90%+ client retention rate, businesses trust us to turn complex marketing challenges into simple, scalable solutions!
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