About Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC):
- It is a transformative initiative by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, aimed at democratizing digital commerce.
- It aims at promoting open networks for all aspects of the exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks.
- It represents a step toward digital commerce democratization, shifting it from a platform-centric model—where a few e-commerce giants dominate the market—to an open, interoperable platform where buyers and sellers can interact regardless of the platforms they’re using.
- It is based on open-sourced methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific e-commerce platform.
- It envisions creating a level playing field for sellers, buyers, and service providers across India, particularly small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
- The initiative has several key objectives:
- Democratization of Commerce: Break the dominance of large e-commerce platforms by enabling interoperability across networks.
- Inclusivity: Empower small businesses, retailers, and local artisans to access the digital marketplace.
- Cost Efficiency: Lower the cost of customer acquisition and transaction processing for sellers.
- Market Expansion: Bridge regional and linguistic gaps, bringing untapped markets into the fold of digital commerce.
- Customer Empowerment: Increase options for buyers by providing access to a broader array of sellers.
- It will enable local commerce across segments, such as mobility, grocery, food order and delivery, hotel booking and travel, among others, to be discovered and engaged by any network-enabled application.
- It comprises buyer-side apps where consumers can place orders, seller-side apps that onboard merchants and display their listings, and logistics platforms that handle deliveries.
- Benefits:
- It offers small retailers an opportunity to provide their services, and goods to buyers across the country through an e-commerce system.
- It enables merchants to save their data to build credit history and reach consumers.
- It is expected to digitise the entire value chain, promote inclusion of suppliers, derive efficiencies in logistics, and enhance value for consumers.
- ONDC protocols would standardize operations like cataloguing, inventory management, order management, and order fulfilment.
