BENGALURU: The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which aims to promote open networks, on Friday started its beta testing process with small retailers in Bengaluru.
ONDC, which is based on open specifications, will boost small merchant digitisation and e-commerce scale. The e-commerce enablement platform Shiprocket has integrated with ONDC for a beta testing launch in Bengaluru. It aims to serve more sellers through the ONDC network and book more shipments through its platform.
“This integration will accelerate our efforts to make last-mile logistics accessible to a wider audience of buyers and sellers across India. Today, small businesses find it difficult to sign contracts with large logistics companies to ship their products. With Shiprocket and ONDC working in tandem for the beta launch in Bengaluru, sellers can now access an improved experience," said ONDC CEO T Koshy.
Through this, Shiprocket will provide a wider reach and various options for the merchants to choose from and strengthen their logistical needs.
Many small merchants across Bengaluru went live on ONDC and they displayed the same outside the shop. "Wow, the first order of the day! Originated from @Paytm app for AtoZ Supermarket, K R Garden, Murgesh Pallya, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560017 managed by seller application @SellerApp_Inc," Dilip Vamanan, co-founder of seller onboarding platform SellerApp tweeted. It has onboarded many participants on the seller side.
Innoviti, a collaborative commerce platform, which joined the ONDC network recently, said that this will help millions of small retailers participate in the digital revolution by connecting them to millions of digital consumers.
"At the same time, it also helps consumers access more sellers through an open network, democratizing the digital marketplace to enable best purchase connections between buyers and sellers," the company said.
Meanwhile, ONDC has come up with a consultation paper and public consultation is open till 31 October. The paper said that ONDC will also require Network Participants to get recertified every time the Network Participant introduces a significant update/patch, or when ONDC introduces a newer version of the Protocol Specification.