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The government has invited all big and small retailers to join the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). It says that the platform will help in creating bigger business opportunities.

The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal said, “Walmart and companies like Flipkart, Tata and Reliance around the world will play an important role in making ONDC a success. That’s why we invite everyone to join this endeavour. Everything will be free and fair here, and there will be no discrimination against anyone. It is open to all. ONDC is open for business.” The Union Minister further added that in the coming years, ONDC will prove to be a game changing e-commerce platform not only in India but across the world.

What is ONDC?

ONDC is an e-commerce platform developed by the government on which merchants can easily sell their products without any commission. On this platform, local and small businessmen will get a network enabled application.

ONDC aims to promote an open platform for e-commerce retailers, which will help small businesses to grow exponentially and curb the dominance of giants in the respective sectors.

What are the advantages?

In simple words, ONDC will enable small businessmen and shopkeepers to expand their reach across businesses including grocery, food order and delivery, hotel booking and travel. It means these businesses will be able to reach more people. ONDC was launched in pilot mode on 29 April last year and about 150 retailers participated in the pilot back then.

How does ONDC work?

This platform basically works at two ends, at one end is the seller and at the other end is the buyer. For example, on one hand companies like Gofrugal and Digiit host the seller side interface, while on the other side companies like Paytm host the buyer side. ONDC serves as an interface between the two. In today’s scenario, when a buyer wants to buy a headphone, the drill involves searching on different e-commerce apps or sites to get the cheapest deal.

Well, this is not only time consuming but also a bit luring with Flipkart and Amazon offering big discounts on expensive products to dominate the market. These companies also give preference to certain apps on their sites.

Whereas if the buyer uses ONDC to open an app (let’s say this app is Paytm), and searches for headphones on it, the buyer will not only see sellers on Paytm but also on other apps. In fact, the search will also show a list of nearby Headphones stores. Apart from this, you also get the facility of interoperability on ONDC. This means you can order goods from one app and get it delivered from another app.

For example, you want to order some food, but its delivery charge is showing more on Zomato or Swiggy, or extra delivery charges are being levied due to distance. In situations like this, you can order food from Zomato or Swiggy and use a delivery app like Dunzo to deliver it, or the restaurant can also deliver the food directly to you.

As we mentioned earlier, ONDC is not just limited to electronics, food and clothing but also includes grocery, vegetables and fruits. This means that Kirana stores can also be a part of the ONDC network.