What is ONDC ?
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is an initiative by the government of India to bring a level playing field in the world of e-commerce.
ONDC is a network with pre-defined protocols unbundled for different stakeholders in any e-commerce transaction, i.e. the buyers, sellers, logistics service providers, payments and settlements.
With the help of ONDC small and medium businesses can take and scale their business online and large enterprises can make their supply chain network efficient and improve their last-mile delivery.
Working model of ONDC
ONDC is a network having multiple participants and the two major participants are the Buyer Platforms and Seller Platforms
The buyers' platforms shall provide consumer-facing applications to help the consumer shop from multiple sellers across the ONDC network
Similarly, the seller platforms (either self-developed application by the seller or through a technology service provider/marketplace operator) shall enable the sellers to start selling their products on the ONDC network to the buyers shopping on different buyer applications
This creates interoperability for the buyers and sellers, where a seller shall be visible to all the buyers across multiple buyer-facing apps and similarly a buyer shall be able to visit all the sellers from their favorite / most rewarding apps
Current traction on ONDC
Currently, more than 10,000 orders are being processed per day on the ONDC network (as on May 23).
A few of the major consumer-facing apps are Paytm, Meesho, PhonePe, Spice Money, IDFC First, Craftsvilla, Mystore, etc. There are other apps like Jio Mart, Google Pay, Kotak, Amazon, Snapdeal and many more that are in the advanced stages of joining the ONDC network
Categories available on ONDC
Grocery, Food & Beverages, Fashion, Electronics, Beauty & Personal Care, Home & Kitchen.
Logistics Service Providers
Shiprocket, Dunzo, Loadshare, Indian Post Office, Shipyaari, etc. are live or in the advanced stages of going live.