MSME Entry Into Network, Giants to Expand

The government-backed Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC) is set to touch 10 million transactions in June, said CBO Shireesh Joshi, as per an Economic Times report. The network has been adding a million or more transactions a month, and officials are optimistic about its growth. ONDC is also incorporating more goods and service categories.

India’s cricket victory also led to a massive boost for the network as it recorded 3,74,000 orders in a single day when India won the T20 World Cup. According to the Hindu Businessline, the F&B sector recorded 61,000 orders by itself.

Here’s a roundup of all that transpired with the ONDC in June

Buffing financial offerings:

ONDC is planning to strengthen its financial services offerings with the inclusion of consumer-facing apps like Tata Neu and Paisabazaar. While the network already has lenders like DMI Finance and Aditya Birla Finance to offer loan services to customers, the new additions will act as a funnel for customers. The plan is to provide high-speed loan delivery by using the strength of the account aggregator framework to fetch banking details about the customer and write the customer within minutes. The network also eventually intends to venture into insurance and investments.

Levying Transaction Charges:

ONDC may be an infrastructure provider with no central platform requiring maintenance, but it still has costs and without a currently operational revenue model. To fix this, the network may begin levying transaction charges in the current financial year. The fee will likely be small and must be paid by the buyer, seller or both, on each transaction. The change will be implemented after considering the network’s growth and market readiness.

ONDC adds more sellers and entrepreneurs:

The government-backed network has added 300 more sellers and 400 women entrepreneurs into the network, reported the Economic Times. The 300 sellers were from six clusters across India and were onboarded with the help of the Small Industries Development Board of India (SIDBI). The 400 women entrepreneurs spanned various sectors and collectively supported livelihood opportunities for 50 lakh women.

The government has also rolled out a new initiative to facilitate the onboarding of 5 Lakh micro and small businesses, reported inc42. The MSME TEAM Initiative plans to provide financial assistance for onboarding, cataloguing, account management, logistics, packaging material and design. Besides, MSME TEAM, another initiative called Yashasvini was also launched to help formalize women-owned informal enterprises and provide capacity building, training and mentorship. According to the government, formalisation and access to credit, increased access to market and e-commerce adoption, increased productivity through modern technology, enhanced skill levels and digitalisation in the service sector, boosted khadi, village and coir industries and empowerment of women, and artisans, through enterprise creation would boost the MSME sector.

Unicorns enter quick commerce:

E-commerce giant Flipkart is planning to enter the food delivery segment via ONDC. This means that users can order food from several restaurants and fast food outlets with the Flipkart app. This is a starting point for the company, after which it may foray into logistics.

Meanwhile, cab aggregator Ola is preparing to launch grocery delivery services via ONDC soon, reported the Business Standard.

AI To Help Buyers on ONDC:

AI startup Gupshup has launched a conversational buyer app on ONDC to help buyers browse and buy products across the ONDC network through a WhatsApp-based conversational UI, reported the Hindu BusinessLine. The company claims to have built a conversational commerce experience with AI-powered natural language interactions, which can interact in any language, over text and voice.

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