ONDC is meant to help local businesses compete with e-commerce giants.
The central government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which aims to democratise e-commerce in the country, has completed a year. Officially launched in April 2022, it has crossed the 10,000 daily order mark, helped by discounts and the discovery of a cheaper food delivery system. And the feedback the users are giving on social media shows how they were able to order burgers for far less than what is charged on platforms like Swiggy and Zomato. ONDC is available in 240 cities in India.
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Internet-savvy users were quick to try out the benefits of the new system by ordering food on both the existing delivery platforms (like Swiggy and Zomato) and ONDC. One of them claimed there was a difference of 60 per cent in prices.
Another user posted a screenshot of the total bill after an order of a burger and soft drink from same restaurant, but on different e-commerce platforms. While the bill on Swiggy showed an amount of Rs 337, the user was getting the same food items on ONDC for Rs 185.57.
Others called it the "game changer" in e-commerce.
Paytm, Meesho, Magicpin, Mystore, Spicesmart and Shop are the buyer apps for ONDC.
According to a government release, ONDC was incorporated as a non-profit, Section-8 company on December 31, 2021. The company was incubated at the Quality Council of India, an autonomous organization with Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce.
ONDC allows sellers and local businesses to compete with e-commerce giants such as Flipkart and Amazon through ONDC. The network makes them discoverable online to customers increasing their reach. Through ONDC, buyers and sellers don't need to be on the same application to carry out a transaction. A seller also doesn't have to be governed by the specific policies of an e-commerce platform and can use any ONDC-compatible application to do business.
ONDC's Beta testing was carried out in Bengaluru and was the first step in operationalising a network approach to e-commerce as an alternative to a platform-centric approach.
The Centre said it will make the e-commerce landscape more inclusive, accessible and experience-driven for all consumers and sellers.