BENGALURU: The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), an initiative of the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, opened its network to consumers across 16 pincodes in Bengaluru last month. FMCG firms UNIBIC and The Good Stuff (LuvIt) are among the first to adopt the ONDC network through the Bizom seller app.
Lauded as the ‘the UPI of e-commerce’, ONDC has taken the first step to make India’s e-commerce landscape more accessible and inclusive to all consumers and sellers. Products like UNIBIC and LuvIt will now be available on every e-commerce platform on the ONDC network.
This eliminates the necessity for these FMCG companies to list their products individually on each e-commerce site, while giving them additional visibility across different Indian markets at a much lesser cost. Their customers are also in for a grander shopping experience, where they can easily buy all the products from any one ONDC buyer app of their choice.
“ONDC is leveling the playing field for all businesses by democratising e-commerce in India. We’re glad to be working in tandem with technology service providers like Bizom to accelerate and improve the end-to-end ecosystem experience and make digital commerce accessible to a wider audience of buyers and sellers across India,” says T Koshy, CEO of ONDC.
Both companies have partnered with Bizom, a retail intelligence platform, to sell online on the ONDC network and simultaneously maintain their offline distribution system. Bizom will manage the online and offline inventories, and provide unified data reports and insights.
When asked how Bizom’s seller app gives a differentiated value proposition to FMCG companies, Lalit Bhise, CEO of Bizom, said, “Bizom and ONDC will enable FMCG businesses to manage their entire online and offline sales in a unified way, resulting in higher efficiency and retail intelligence. While many initiatives are in place to promote shoppers to come online, it’s great to see something being done to assist the millions of Indian sellers who might not have the digital capabilities or knowledge to sell on every eCommerce platform. And not just for sellers, ONDC will also pave the way for smaller eCommerce platforms to gain more prominence.”
Kamal Kumar Agarwal, Chief Operating Officer of The Good Stuff, said, “LuvIt and our other brands have seen an extremely promising start in India. With ONDC, we will intensify that growth across different parts of the country and reach a greater number of consumers.” The company was the first to join the ONDC network using the Bizom seller app, to sell its extensive range of unique confectionery products.
UNIBIC, on the other hand, already holds an established online presence across a multitude of e-commerce platforms. Through the ONDC network, the company will further expand its online presence with the aim of increasing market share.
Kartikay Mehta, Sales Director of UNIBIC says, “ONDC has bloomed in India at the right time. Post-Covid, every citizen has become more accepting of the emergence of a ‘Digital India’. UNIBIC is proud to be part of this and expand its online reach in India through ONDC.”
The ONDC ecosystem is expected to transfigure how the Indian e-commerce industry works, reducing the ‘n’ number of shopping apps on our phones. The new era of e-commerce will be experience-driven and will provide huge opportunities for FMCG companies to create brand loyalists. (ANI/NewsVoir)