What is ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce)
The world is moving towards a digital economy, and India is no exception. With the rise of digital commerce, the need for a robust infrastructure to support it has become more pressing than ever. After as a great game changer with venture of UPI, NCPI next comes Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) into play. The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a revolutionary platform that aims to transform the way digital commerce is conducted in India.
It is a government-backed initiative that seeks to create a secure, open, and interoperable digital ecosystem for businesses of all sizes to thrive and grow. The ONDC is a digital platform that has been designed to facilitate seamless and secure transactions in the digital economy. It is an open network that enables merchants, banks, and other service providers to interconnect with each other and offer their services to customers in a unified manner.
In this article, we will explore the ONDC in detail, its benefits, and why it is needed. We will also look at the changes that are likely to occur in the Indian digital economy due to the ONDC and the disadvantages or shortcomings following them.
Why has India initiated this revolution?
India has been a world leader in demonstrating the successful adoption of digital infrastructures at the population scale, such as UPI, AADHAAR, and more. ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) is yet another tech-based initiative to transform the way e-commerce functions in the country by enabling e-commerce through an open protocol based on open-source specifications.
The initiative will not only facilitate the rapid adoption of e-commerce but also boost and strengthen the growth of startups in India. By facilitating scalable and cost-effective e-commerce through the open protocol, ONDC will empower startups to grow collaboratively.
What is the Open Network for Digital Commerce?
The ONDC is an initiative of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to create an open digital infrastructure for the Indian economy. It is a platform that enables merchants, banks, payment gateways and other service providers to interconnect with each other and offer their services to customers in a seamless and secure manner.
The ONDC is being developed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with various other government agencies, including the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the Department of Revenue, and the Department of Posts. The platform was planned to be launched in 2022 end.
It is a one-stop-shop that will provide a range of services to businesses, including e-invoicing, e-payment, e-contracting, e-logistics, and dispute resolution mechanisms. The platform will be based on open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that will allow businesses to easily integrate their systems with the ONDC.
The ONDC is built on top of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which is a real-time payment system that allows instant money transfer between bank accounts. The UPI has been a game-changer in the Indian digital economy, and the ONDC aims to build on its success and create a more comprehensive digital infrastructure.
Thus, ONDC goes beyond the current platform-centric digital commerce model where the buyer and seller have to use the same platform or application to be digitally visible and do a business transaction.
Why do we need the Open Network for Digital Commerce?
The ONDC is needed to address several challenges that currently exist in the Indian digital economy. These challenges include:
- Fragmentation: The Indian digital economy is fragmented, with multiple payment gateways, banks, and service providers offering their services independently. This makes it difficult for customers to use multiple services and increases transaction costs for merchants.
- Limited interoperability: Interoperability between different service providers is limited, which means that customers are often limited to using a single payment gateway or bank for transactions. This reduces competition among service providers and limits customer choice.
- Security concerns: There are still concerns around the security of digital payments in India, particularly with regard to fraud and data breaches. This can undermine customer confidence in digital payments and slow the adoption of digital commerce.
- Lack of financial inclusion: Many small merchants and businesses in India still operate outside of the formal banking system and do not have access to digital payment services. This limits their ability to participate in the digital economy and hampers their growth.
- High costs: The lack of standardization and interoperability in the current ecosystem results in high costs for businesses. This reduces their competitiveness and limits their ability to expand their operations.
The ONDC aims to address these challenges by creating an open, interoperable, and secure digital infrastructure that enables all service providers to offer their services in a unified manner.
Benefits & Advantages of the Open Network for Digital Commerce
The ONDC is aimed to rule the current issues of the merchant transactions and offer several benefits to merchants, banks, and customers alike. Let’s take a look at some of the most significant benefits:
- Interoperability: The ONDC enables interoperability between different service providers, which means that customers can use their preferred payment gateway or bank to make transactions. This increases competition among service providers and gives customers more choice and convenience.
- Increased efficiency: The ONDC will be based on open APIs that will allow businesses to easily integrate their systems with the platform. This will increase the efficiency of the overall ecosystem and reduce the complexity of doing business.
- Lower costs: The ONDC aims to reduce the cost of transactions by enabling direct connectivity between service providers. This will reduce the need for intermediaries and lower transaction fees, benefiting both merchants and customers.
- Increased security: The ONDC is designed to be a secure platform that uses advanced encryption and authentication protocols to ensure the security of transactions. This will reduce the risk of fraud and enhance customer confidence in digital payments.
- Greater financial inclusion: The ONDC aims to promote financial inclusion by enabling small merchants and businesses to participate in the digital economy. By lowering transaction costs and providing a more secure platform, the ONDC will make it easier for these businesses to accept digital payments and access financial services.
- Reduced compliance burden: The ONDC will provide a range of compliance-related services, including e-invoicing and e-contracting. This will reduce the compliance burden on businesses and increase their productivity.
- Increased innovation: The ONDC will provide a platform for businesses to innovate and create new products and services. This will help Indian businesses compete globally and drive economic growth.
- New opportunities: ONDC is expected to create new business opportunities for e-commerce players. It will enable them to tap into new markets, access new customers, and explore new business models.
Potential disadvantages or challenges of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC):
- Adoption: One of the biggest challenges for any new technology or platform is getting people to adopt it. The success of ONDC will depend largely on how many businesses and consumers are willing to use it. If adoption is slow, it could hinder the growth and development of the platform.
- Integration: For ONDC to be successful, it will need to integrate with various systems and platforms. This can be a complex and time-consuming process, particularly if existing systems are incompatible with ONDC.
- Security: ONDC will need to have robust security measures in place to protect against hacking and cyber attacks. This can be a difficult task, and any security breaches could damage the platform’s reputation and deter users from adopting it.
- Regulation: The use of ONDC may be subject to regulations and restrictions, which could limit its growth and adoption. Additionally, navigating regulatory requirements can be a complex and expensive process.
- Competition: ONDC will be entering a crowded market with numerous existing platforms and technologies. Competing with established players can be difficult, particularly if they have greater resources and market share.
It’s worth noting that some of these potential disadvantages are common to many new technologies and platforms, and do not necessarily mean that ONDC will not be successful. Ultimately, the success of ONDC will depend on how well it addresses these challenges and meets the needs of businesses and consumers.
A few ONDC seller apps in 2023 (Source: https://www.mystore.in/en/blog/top-10-ondc-seller-apps-in-2023)
- Mystore®
Launched by StoreHippo, Mystore is an ONDC-connected marketplace that facilitates SMEs all across India to sell their products in the Indian ecommerce market. The Mystore seller app offers a gamut of built-in tools and a feature-rich admin dashboard to help manage business activities seamlessly. The platform offers such an easy-to-use interface that even novice sellers who have no prior experience or knowledge of selling online can quickly take their business to the digital space with ONDC.
Sellers can also have a hassle-free online journey with Mystore’s seamless integration with payment gateways, ONDC-approved logistics partners, SMS providers etc. Even the sellers who are already selling on other platforms can easily migrate to the best ONDC seller app, Mystore. It is built on cutting-edge technologies (MEAN stack, MACH architecture, SPA, decoupled headless solutions) offering an ecommerce store to sellers at ZERO subscription cost.
- eSamudaay
The eSamuday platform is built to support local economies across India who are looking for ONDC seller registration. It offers solutions to simplify order processing and managing products for merchants from grocery, food and beverage industries.
The app is onboarding businesses from Bangalore, Shillong, Udupi, Lucknow, Meerut, Kaup, Bijnor, Cuttack, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Surathkal, Bhopal, Mysuru, Mangalore, Dehradun, Haridwar, Chikkamagaluru, Mandya, Jammu and Kashmir, Ranebennur, Kotputli, Singur, Bailhongal, Kotdwar, Hamirpur, Bardez, Bansur, Parsa, Lakhimpur Kheri, Mudbidri, Porvorim, Tiswadi, and Gorakhpur. Businesses can accept orders, manage product catalogues, stock status and fulfill orders via the eSamuday ONDC seller app.
- GOFRUGAL technologies
Grofugal technologies offers next-gen solutions to merchants and retail businesses to sell on the ONDC network. It enables the merchants to go for omnichannel selling, so the customers can shop from the merchant’s shop using various channels. The seller app offers a comprehensive admin panel where all the sales, accounts, and inventory data can be seen with business reports.
The GOFRUGAL technologies seller app deals with merchants from the grocery, food and beverage industries. Sellers from Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandausi, Chennai, Chindwara, Chittoor, Coimbatore, Delhi, Ernakulam, Gangtok, Jaipur, Kanchipuram, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Noida, Pune, Pollachi, Ramnathapuram, Theni, Thiruvallur, Tindivanam, Tirunelveli, Vijayawada, and Vizianagaram are using the GOFRUGAL app for ONDC India website login.
- Growth Falcons
Active in Bengaluru and New Delhi, the Growth Falcons seller app is categorically working with sellers from food and beverage industries. Growth Falcons is an AI-based growth marketing agency that has developed its own ONDC seller app to help sellers register on the open-network. It offers quick onboarding, analytics and integrated logistics to its sellers.
- SellerApp
Seller app and YES Bank collaborated to offer YES bank’s corporate customers an ONDC seller app to sell on the open network. It deals in the grocery, home and decor categories for its sellers while offering catalouge, inventory, customer orders and reports functionalities. The SellerApp is available for ONDC app download in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Mumbai, Bangalore, Greater Noida, Vadodara, Indore, Mangalore, Jaipur, Moradabad, Bareli, Lucknow, Faridabad, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram.
- ITC Store
The ITC store is licensed by the ITC Limited to enable small and medium sized sellers to take their business online. It is available for the grocery, personal care and stationary needs of customers in more than 11 cities like Delhi NCR, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Gurgaon, Guwahati, covering more than 1000 pin codes between these cities.
- uEngage
uEngage ONDC seller app offers customized seller app to the merchants and a controlled dashboard with inventory and customer data. uEnagage also helps businesses with ONDC requirements, from KYC verification, inventory or catalogue upload, notifications setup to linking payment methods. With its presence in the food and beverage industry, uEngage is ready for sellers in Delhi NCR, Bangalore and Chandigarh.
- EnStore
The ONDC seller app, EnStore enables the Indian merchants to offer an omnichannel shopping experience to its customers. It offers features and tools to centrally manage all your business operations. Grocery, food and beverage sellers can quickly start their retail business with the EnStore seller app in locations like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ernakulum, Goa, Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Mumbai.
- Digiit
The Digiit ONDC seller app enables its users (sellers) to serve their customers while the platform owner can make an additional revenue stream without additional investment. The seller app deals with sellers from Grocery, Food & Beverage, Home & Decor industries. Customers from Coimbatore, Pollachi, Chennai, Madurai, Kumbakonam, Erode, Tiruchirappalli, Mayiladuthurai, Dharmapuri, Ramanathapuram, Mettupalyam, Thirssur, Kannur, Ernakulam, Kollam, Guruvayur, Trivandrum, Bangalore, Mohali, and Mumbai can make a purchase using the Digiit ONDC seller app.
- eVitalRx
Integrated with the ONDC network, eVitalRx helps the small and medium sellers increase their reach and connect faster with their customers. It is the first healthcare industry to be associated with Open Network for Digital Commerce. However, eVitalRx is in its Beta phase at the moment. It will be launched soon for the customers pan India.
A few ONDC Buyer apps in 2023 (Source Credit: https://www.mystore.in/en/blog/top-5-ondc-buyer-apps-in-2023)
- Mystore
Launched by StoreHippo, Mystore buyer app is a feature-rich interface that offers the most amazing and seamless buying journey on the open network. The Mystore app for buyers enables its customers to discover goods and services across all industries, make frictionless payments, choose the logistics solution of their own choice, track their orders, cancel them, contact their sellers for queries, rate them on the app and much more.
Supporting the Vocal for Local campaign by the Indian government, Mystore is the first-of-its-kind ONDC buyer app offering multi-lingual support to their customers. Buyers on the open platform can choose to shop in their preferred language between Hindi, English and Kannada. Mystore provides the buyers with a faceted search option and multi seller cart functionality enabling ease of shopping on the open network.
The ONDC-connected buyer app, Mystore is designed to help the buyers reorder their favourite items hassle-free. Wondering how? Well, buyers on Mystore app can quickly scan the QR code (given by Mystore) for the invidual seller page of their favourite sellers and save or share them for future references. This helps the buyers to seamlessly reorder and save time from searching the item/seller on the platfom.
The Mystore buyer app helps buyers avail quick commerce like delivery to the customers by delivering orders in less than 10 minutes from the sellers in their own vicinity. With such hyperlocal deliveries, buyers can get their orders much faster using the open network.
- CraftsVilla
CraftsVilla is an ONDC buyer app that offers a wide range of products on its platform ranging from kitchen items to aesthetic home decor, from grocery to baby products. The buyers can pay using the multiple payment options on the buyer-facing app and get timely delivery all across Bengaluru.
- IDFC First
IDFC First is the first banking app to register with ONDC and offers an ONDC-connected buyer app connecting buyers and small merchants, who can now seamlessly set up their digital footprint on the open platform. The IDFC First buyer app ensures delivery of products within 2 to 7 days and offers hassle-free returns and refunds of products within 30 days from the date of purchase.
- Spice Money
Joining the ecommerce platform, Spice Money offers an advanced buyer app facilitating the customers to access the local Indian sellers in the ecommerce landscape. It is expected to penetrate the ecommerce market by 25% in the next two years with ONDC. The Spice Money buyer app offers various categories to its buyers like grocery, food and beverages, home decor, food grains, organic masala, bakery, dairy etc.
- PayTm App
The PayTm Mall, popularly known as Paytm E-commerce Private Limited (PEPL) has pivoted to ONDC, offering a feature-rich ONDC buyer app to the customers. It enables the buyers to search for products, make payments, track orders and follow up with sellers. The customers can place orders from various categories like grocery, food & beverage and home & decor categories using the PayTM app.
Conclusion
The ONDC initiative is a revolutionary step in changing the ecommerce sphere of India. The buyers can now access sellers pan-India and similarly, the sellers are gearing up to grab the opportunity with open hands. We can get more details on it’s official website https://ondc.org/
I hope through this article we could give you a better picture of ONDC and its need, advantages, disadvantages, top stores for buyers and sellers. Keep visiting.