ONDC - The Revolution Reshaping Indian Ecommerce (Part I)

The Indian ecommerce markets have been growing steadily over the last decade and have crossed new milestones year after year. While the market is expected to cross $100 billion in 2024, the exponential growth has primarily been the hegemony of established giants and big brands, leaving SMBs more or less untouched by this growth.

While the likes of Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra have been making a kill, small and medium-sized offline businesses, and retailers have been marred by dwindling footfalls. COVID-induced disruptions also gravitated buyers towards omnichannel buying, especially via mobile channels.?

This new trend was further alienating SMBs from mainstream ecommerce until ONDC happened.

What is ONDC ( Open Network for Digital Commerce)?

ONDC is a Government of India-backed initiative to democratize ecommerce and bring SMBs to mainstream ecommerce.? Touted as the UPI for ecommerce, ONDC is going to be a game-changer. After ensuring digital identification and authentication on a population scale with AADHAR and making digital payments seamless with UPI, ONDC is the next step towards the digitization of the huge Indian markets.?

With its transformative vision and inclusive framework, ONDC is unlocking boundless potential, revolutionizing how businesses operate, and paving the way for a thriving digital commerce space for all participants.?

Here is what ONDC promises to offer businesses of every scale and size:

• A unified and transparent digital commerce framework that empowers all participants, especially SMEs, and encourages fair competition
• Pan-India reach with a focus on hyperlocal commerce
• Eliminate intermediaries and open up new market opportunities by enabling sellers to connect directly with consumers
• Trustworthy, transparent transactions using standardized protocols and data exchange mechanisms
• Superlative tech and fulfillment solutions that offer cost-efficient set-up to streamline business and reduce costs
• Complete control over the business with the freedom to use one’s own business rules, prices, return/refund policies, etc.
• Access to customer data to understand and plan for strategic growth
• Collaborative ecosystem which includes government bodies, technology providers, and other network participants and helps with the ecommerce supply chain
• Regulatory compliance right from the start to ensure standardized functioning and minimized grievances

With these promises and goals in place, ONDC sets the track for India to become a? global economic powerhouse. The open network also empowers SMEs and paves the way for disruptive growth.??

How ONDC will work?

Unlike the platform-centric e commerce models, ONDC takes the network approach wherein once registered on the open network sellers and their products will be discoverable by all the customers irrespective of whichever buyer interface customers are using. This is a major departure from how ecommerce was done until now.

For example, if a fashion products seller is registered on Amazon, his products were not available on Flipkart, Myntra, or any other marketplace. To be discoverable on each of the platforms sellers had to create separate accounts on each of these platforms.

Similarly, if the buyer had to buy fashion products, they had to check on various marketplaces to find the best prices and products. Now both the sellers and the buyers just need one app to sell and find products available on ONDC.

What’s even more interesting is that there are a number of seller-facing interfaces, i.e., the tech solutions which sellers can use to list, display, sell and fulfill their products on ONDC. The sellers can pick and choose the best ONDC Seller App as per their requirements.?

Similarly, buyers can choose from a number of ONDC buyer apps to search for and buy the products they need.

How do a typical product search, order, and fulfillment happen on ONDC?

To explain the process of product search, order placement, and fulfillment let us take the example of a customer named Ravi, who is planning to buy a formal white colored shirt. Here is a breakdown of his journey on the Open Network For Digital Commerce:

Product Search

• Ravi uses one among the many ONDC buyer apps like say Mystore Buyer App to access all the fashion sellers registered on the ONDC platform.?
• He can start his product search either through a website or mobile application.

Search Results

• To search for the product Ravi will enter his location and then type “ white shirt”, “cotton shirt”, “formal shirt” etc in the search bar of the Mystore website or app.
• The Mystore Buyer App uses various algorithms and data in accordance with ONDC guidelines to provide personalized recommendations and refine search results based on user location to show hyperlocal results first.
• The search result will show all the sellers from all the seller apps irrespective of the fact whether the seller is registered on ONDC through the Mystore seller app or any other seller app.

Product Selection

• Once Ravi finds the desired shirt, he can view detailed information, including price, description, specifications, delivery time, and seller information.
• Ravi may compare multiple shirts based on these details and make an informed decision about the shirt he wants to purchase.

Order Placement

• After selecting the shirt and seller, Ravi proceeds to place an order.
• He provides necessary information such as shipping address, contact details, and chooses a payment method (UPI, e-wallets, net banking etc).

Order Confirmation

• Once the order is placed, Ravi receives an order confirmation via SMS and email, which includes the details of the purchase, estimated delivery date, and an order ID for reference.

Order Fulfilment

• The seller receives the order details in his seller admin panel and begins the fulfillment process.
• This typically involves packaging the shirt, preparing it for shipment, and arranging for its delivery through the ON-logistics partners of ONDC. Alternatively, sellers can also use their own off-network logistics services.
• Ravi will get tracking information, allowing him to monitor the status of his order until delivery.

Delivery and Customer Support

• Ravi can track his order from the “order section” in the Mystore buyer app.
• The logistics partner delivers the shirt to Ravi’s specified shipping address.
• In case of delays or any other queries, Ravi can connect with Mystore support to enquire about his order status.

That’s it! The order placement to fulfillment journey on ONDC is just like any other ecommerce website. However, one huge difference is that customers get to choose from a large number of sellers and products irrespective of the seller app they are listed on.

Conclusion

ONDC is a leap forward in India's e-commerce landscape which promises to foster inclusivity, transparency, and fair competition. The road ahead will bring SMEs to mainstream ecommerce and help sellers and brands reach untapped markets across the nation.

In the coming articles, I will be elaborating on the accomplishments achieved thus far, ongoing efforts to expand the ONDC ecosystem, its reach, and what brands, sellers, and customers should expect from ONDC in the coming days.?

Stay tuned to understand and use ONDC in an effortless manner!