The government's open, inclusive and competitive marketplace for ecommerce is said to usher in the next era of retail in India, but in the absence of larger players like Flipkart and Amazon, and no clarity on the architecture of the network, it will be interesting to see how it plays out
ONDC aims to create an open, inclusive and competitive marketplace for ecommerce, unlike the present platform-centric models where companies like Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart have end-to-end control, from seller onboarding to customer acquisition
Illustration: Chaitanya Dinesh Surpur
In April, Woolly Farms received a notification that a Bengaluru-based buyer was in need of a handful of coriander. The five-year-old startup, which uses urban spaces and sustainable practices to grow vegetables, accepted and delivered the goods to a delivery boy who arrived at their location.
It was the very first transaction in the country, albeit a pilot one, completed through ONDC—the Open Network for Digital Commerce—conceptualised by the Ministry of Commerce.