 "e commerce, ecommerce, online shopping")
The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is finally seeing user traction with mobility services in the lead. And officials believe that with PhonePe launching its app, Pincode, on ONDC, the network will gain currency in the ecommerce segment as well.
ONDC has two mobility apps on its network: Kerala Open Mobility Network (KOPN); and Namma Yatri, an auto-rickshaw booking app recently launched in Bengaluru.
KOPN sees over 200 transactions per day, while Namma Yatri has 18,000-19,000 transactions.
ONDC Chief Executive Officer T Koshy is of the opinion that the network is slowly recording an uptick in transactions. “When it comes to ecommerce, we have seen transactions going up since December – from 30-odd in a day to 400-500 now,” he said.
Within ecommerce, transactions in grocery and food have dominated, but with beauty and fashion also coming on board, Koshy expects more movement.
The launch of Pincode could be a game changer for the network, senior executives Business Standard spoke to said. That’s because buyers can now use Pincode to see all the neighbourhood stores/products in one place.
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With this, Pincode could give competition to WhatsApp, which had become the de facto platform for neighbourhood stores as the pandemic forced people to shop online and many small businesses turned to the platform to reach out to them.
PhonePe CEO and Founder Sameer Nigam agrees: “During the Covid-19 pandemic, everyone was doing some kind of commerce within local communities using WhatsApp. We are trying to formalise that and make it more convenient.”
At Pincode’s launch on ONDC on April 4, Nigam had said the platform already has on boarded over 500 sellers for groceries, 3,000 for food and 200 for pharmacy. PhonePe said the app would offer consumers a better and wider selection of products than its competitors and would include both national brands as well as locally manufactured groceries, apparel, footwear, accessories etc.
“PhonePe has built an independent shopping application for ONDC, unlike the others (like Paytm and Snapdeal) who are just integrating the ONDC link into their apps. Pincode is meant to build a shopping experience,” said a senior official from ONDC.
The Pincode experience could be a starting point for ONDC. According to a report by Antler (“Unpacking the $80+ billion ONDC Opportunity: India's next startup catalyst”), despite meteoric growth in recent years, India’s ecommerce sector has managed to tap barely 5-7 per cent of the retail potential.
The report says that for buyers, ONDC can unlock access to micro-economies. “Local commerce is limited to how far people can travel to get what they want. ONDC will probably give consumers the choice to get what they want at their doorstep without having to worry about logistics,” said Antler Director Sumit Patodia in the report. “As more kirana stores and local suppliers and sellers come on the network, consumers who were normally underserved will benefit from lower prices and better delivery options,” he added.
Pincode could bring in the numbers for ONDC. Nigam expects the app to see 100,000 transactions per day in the next few months. Industry sources say both ONDC and the app will benefit, given that the network has a presence in 200 cities; and of these, 15 cities have over 100 merchants.
