The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), backed by the Indian government, has announced the Beta launch of its platform in five additional cities: Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. This expansion comes after scaling the seller density, with over 18,000 sellers operating from these cities out of the network’s total of more than 40,000 sellers.
ONDC had previously conducted a soft launch in Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Shillong, and Coimbatore in April of the previous year. It later opened to the public in Bengaluru and went Beta live in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, in December.
The objective of the Beta launch is to allow consumers to experience the open network, provide real-time feedback, and test the platform on a larger scale before the nationwide rollout. T Koshy, MD and CEO of ONDC, expressed hopes that this announcement would encourage more businesses to join, benefiting from being early adopters. It also allows ONDC to gain insights and opportunities for network improvement as it expands to more consumer territories.
ONDC, established in December 2021 as an initiative by the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), aims to democratize e-commerce in India and facilitate greater penetration of retail e-commerce in the country.
Since its inception, ONDC has garnered significant interest from private e-commerce players, logistics startups, payment platforms, and banks. Companies like PhonePe, Paytm, Delhivery, Dunzo, Shiprocket, and Snapdeal have integrated their services with ONDC. The platform is currently available in over 235 cities, offering services across various sectors such as food, grocery, electronics, fashion, and mobility.
Earlier this year, ONDC entered the mobility segment by onboarding Bengaluru-based auto booking platform Namma Yatri. Additionally, ONDC plans to venture into the financial products and services segment in the coming months.
To support the growth of the network, Google Cloud recently launched an accelerator program for ONDC. Participants of the open platform will receive a grant of up to $25,000, along with other technological facilities, through this program. ONDC has witnessed a substantial increase in daily transactions, jumping from just 50 orders in January to 25,000 orders in May 2023.
