From Zerodha to Cars24, 10 unicorns to hop on government-backed ONDC

The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a government-backed e-commerce platform, has received a preliminary on-boarding commitment from as many as 125 startups, including high-growth businesses and unicorns, such as Zerodha, EaseMyTrip, and Cars24.

These companies -- including the likes of OfBusiness, Winzo, Livspace, GlobalBees, Pristyn Care, Physics Wallah, and Policybazaar -- signed letters of intent on Friday during an event organised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

Launched over two years ago, ONDC looks to democratise digital commerce by creating more visibility for products and services, thereby generating additional revenue for sellers. The larger vision, however, is to bring small, local sellers into the digital fold, many of whom have never been on any digital platform. The ONDC is now fully operational across India, with more than 500,000 sellers on the platform. Over 70 per cent of these are small or medium-sized sellers. 

In April 2024 alone, ONDC facilitated around 7.22 million transactions.

T Koshy, MD and CEO of ONDC, shared that aside from mobility, where demand is hyper-local, around 70 per cent of orders are coming from small towns. “What is encouraging is that, while the transactions are still small…We have recorded transactions from more than 1,000 cities and towns across the country in the past few months. And there are more than 600 cities where we have more than 100 daily orders consecutively for three months,” he told reporters.

However, it may be a while before e-commerce giants, such as Amazon and Flipkart, fully integrate with the network. According to Koshy, established players will have to make adjustments before they integrate with ONDC and since Amazon and Flipkart are large platforms with their own existing setups, migrating to a new system and network will take time.

The government has previously clarified that ONDC threatens nobody, and only unlocks and opens the doors of opportunity. Even the big e-commerce companies should not feel threatened.

Companies intending to adopt the ONDC architecture believe that the network’s reach in tier III and smaller cities will allow them to cater to consumers in these remote markets. Atul Mehta, CEO of Domestic Shipping at Shiprocket, a logistics unicorn, said: "Unlike traditional e-commerce platforms, ONDC allows us to publish the catalogues of our sellers as well, leading to an increase in their orders across the country. The network allows sellers visibility across all buyer apps integrated with ONDC, they do not need to hop from one platform to another."

Going onboard

> As many as 125 startups have committed to join ONDC

> ONDC in ‘serious discussions’ with Amazon, Flipkart to join the network

>  More than 500,000 sellers have been onboarded on the platform, of which more than 70 per cent are small or medium sized sellers

> In April 2024, ONDC facilitated around 7.22 mn transactions

>  Other than mobility, where demand is hyper-local, around 70 per cent of orders are coming from small towns