Do you use UPI for payment? We bet you do. From paying for samosas to paying your daily utility bills, UPI for all it is. We know your CA is having a headache after seeing your bank statements.

After UPI, the next revolution is here in the E-commerce segment. Just as UPI has blurred the lines between interbank and inter-app payments, similarly, ONDC is going to blur lines in Online Shopping. This time giving headaches to giants like Amazon and Flipkart.

Let’s know, How? 

What is ONDC? 

ONDC is the most ambitious project of the Indian Government that aims to decentralize online shopping in India. It stands for Open Network for Digital Commerce. In simple words, after the launch of this project, you will be able to do hotel bookings, travel bookings, order food, book cabs, buy groceries, and many more through a single app.

Why does India need ONDC? 

Small Retail businesses are highly affected by the big season discounts of E-commerce giants. These giants have access to funding and the power to buy goods in bulk. This leads them to offer huge discounts. Small retailers do not get an opportunity to have fair competition.

Not only offline small retailers are affected but those that are registered online are also affected. Big giants have a complete database of the demand and tastes of consumers. This database can easily be used to launch in-house brands by these E-commerce giants. Once the in-house brand is launched, the e-commerce platform has the power to list it at the top of search results, offer a slightly lower price of a product with the same specification, etc. This again ousts small online retailers from the business. 

How will ONDC function? 

ONDC is basically a network in which sellers have to register themselves. All the businesses that are registered in this network can be accessed through a single app. So, if you search for a product on Amazon, you will be able to see the seller of Flipkart and your nearest shops as well. This would give you the power to buy at the lowest price and choose the one with the least delivery time. Just like whichever bank you use, you can make payments through UPI. Similarly, whichever app you use, you can see all the sellers registered under ONDC.

This project would give an equal online presence to all the small retailers. The pilot project has already been launched in cities like Coimbatore, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Bhopal, and Shillong.

Conclusion

This project sounds very revolutionary. Though with low digital literacy among small businesses, it would be difficult for the government to register each and every small retailer. It would still be difficult for retailers to fight the discount game but they would have an edge in delivery time. This project would definitely be going to change the pillars of Indian e-commerce.