A total of 125 startups, including prominent unicorns such as Zerodha, Physics Wallah, EaseMyTrip, and Cars24, have committed to joining the Indian government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) announced that 12 unicorns, including EaseMyTrip, OfBusiness, Winzo, Livspace, GlobalBees, Pristyn Care, Cars24, Physics Wallah, PolicyBazaar, and Zerodha, have signed a Letter of Intent to join the ONDC.
“These Letters of Intent signify the potential of ONDC and the eagerness of leading startups in the country to collaborate with the platform,” the DPIIT stated. Sanjiv Singh, joint secretary at the DPIIT, added, “We’ve realized that there should be a concerted effort from DPIIT to onboard startups to the ONDC. A big concern for startups is to find the markets, so ONDC onboarding can solve it.”
Democratizing Digital Commerce
Launched on December 31, 2021, ONDC aims to democratize digital commerce by increasing the visibility of products and services and generating additional revenue for sellers. The larger vision of ONDC is to bring small, local sellers into the digital fold, many of whom have never been on any digital platform. The ONDC is now fully operational across India, with more than 500,000 sellers on the platform. Notably, over 70% of these are small or medium-sized sellers.
T Koshy, Managing Director and CEO of ONDC, noted that aside from mobility, where demand is hyper-local, around 70% of orders are coming from small towns. “What is encouraging is that, while the transactions are still small… We have recorded transactions from more than 1,000 cities and towns across the country in the past few months. And there are more than 600 cities where we have more than 100 daily orders consecutively for three months,” he told reporters.
Amazon and Flipkart’s Integration with ONDC
However, it may take some time before major e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart fully integrate with the network. Koshy explained that established players will need to make adjustments before integrating with ONDC. Since Amazon and Flipkart are large platforms with their own existing setups, migrating to a new system and network will be a time-consuming process.
The DPIIT is hopeful that the participation of these unicorns and other startups will further enhance the capabilities and reach of ONDC, ultimately benefiting small sellers and promoting a more inclusive digital economy. By facilitating easier market access for startups, ONDC aims to address significant challenges and promote growth and innovation in India’s digital commerce landscape.
