NEW DELHI: With many companies joining the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), consumers have started exploring the platform that offers various verticals from groceries, home decor, and fashion to food delivery, among others, at cheaper prices compared to other big players.
Recently, the platform has started allowing restaurants to sell food directly to its consumers and many have shared screenshots of the total bill on social media comparing the prices of ONDC with that of Swiggy and Zomato. Since ONDC doesn’t have a separate app, consumers can place orders through Paytm, and Magicpin, among others, by logging into these websites and searching for ONDC.
Ordering food via these apps is at least 20% cheaper compared to other food delivery companies. ONDC offers a special code that reduces food bills by Rs 50. As per a user who shared a screenshot of his food bill on Twitter, the cost of Paneer Burger and Pepsi was Rs 186 on ONDC, whereas on a food delivery platform, it costs Rs 337.
Many buyers have integrated with the ONDC network including Mystore, Meesho, Craftsvilla, and Pincode, among others. Recently, an ONDC official told this newspaper that buyers will have wider choices and verticals to pick their favourite ones and communication can also happen in local languages. Similar price differences can be seen in other verticals such as e-commerce.
A recent report on a joint search carried out by ONDC and McKinsey & Company said by 2030, ONDC could further accelerate the expected 5x growth in digital consumption of products and services.
“For food delivery and e-commerce, there was a reason why not all pin codes were covered and not all products/services were offered by the incumbents.
ONDC in due time will equalize the field enough to allow anyone nimble enough to ride on these protocols to then build net new markets. But like payments, here too ONDC will coexist and thrive with the incumbents,” said Nikhil Kurhe, co-founder and CEO of Finarkein Analytics.
As per him, ONDC is a great monetisation opportunity that lowers the cost of onboarding and servicing new partners as seller apps. “For sellers, again cost of user discovery and acquisition comes down with ONDC’s buyer apps who’ve spent time, effort, and cost to acquire, activate, retain, and funnel the user towards their offering,” he said.
The game changer
ONDC is a set of specifications designed to foster open, unbundled, and interoperable open
networks
It eliminates the dependency on a single platform
Microsoft, Dunzo, Craftsvilla, IDFC, Kotak, Shiprocket and Spicemoney have already joined the open network
ONDC started its beta testing process with small retailers in Bengaluru on September 30, 2022
By 2030, ONDC could further accelerate the expected 5x growth in digital consumption of products and services