ONDC stands for Open Network for Digital Commerce. It is a new buzzword in India that has gained a lot of attention from e-commerce retailers, especially those who are in the D2C industry. ONDC enables small businesses to go online and sell their products on the digital platform. It is similar to an e-commerce marketplace.
During COVID-19, when there was a huge penetration in e-commerce, there were high chances of fraudulent cases which affected both customers and businesses. To mitigate such issues, ONDC was developed. The main issue behind this is the limited digital infrastructure which lets only big players sell online.
Thus, the government intervened and decided to develop a centralized environment like ONDC that can facilitate the linking of the customers and the sellers. ONDC acts as a transparent and secure platform for sellers and buyers to purchase and sell goods and services. It promotes open networks to provide local retail firms with access to the single platform used by all sellers.
ONDC connects customers and sellers by bringing them together on a single platform to exchange goods and services. It has expanded to 236 cities and added 36,000 merchants to its platform in the last year.
There are a lot of apps in the market which has the ONDC option available like Meesho, Mystore, Dunzo, Craftsvilla, etc. There is an ONDC app for every customer need like groceries, food, home décor, etc. When the user searches for an ONDC, these options would be showcased to the user.
It returns a list of sellers based on the area pin code you gave in the search results. Users can proceed with order placement by selecting their chosen seller.
ONDC Marketplace Benefits:
There are multiple benefits of Open Network for Digital Customers for both buyers and sellers. Here are some of those benefits:
- Beneficial to the small retailers: There are many smaller retailers and companies who can’t afford to make their online e-commerce stores, or they have to high commissions to traditional marketplaces like Amazon or Flipkart. Thus, ONDC is a highly reliable option for these retailers.
- Larger audience reach: The ONDC network has the potential to take online a huge number of sellers which will increase the footfall of the buyers as well. Thus, the sellers can serve a larger audience.
- Decrease the dominance of large marketplaces: With the bringing of retailers to its platform, ONDC may end the oligopoly of the few large marketplaces that are dominating the e-commerce market.
- Priority to local businesses using hyperlocal: It gives high priority to the local businesses and sellers.
- Direct interaction of seller & buyer: ONDC eliminates any middle concept and promotes the direct interaction of buyers and sellers.
- Advantageous to the logistics industry: The ONDC benefits logistics companies by allowing sellers to use their own employees or startup organizations as delivery partners.
Technology Behind ONDC:
The ONDC network is built on blockchain technology to provide merchants and buyers with a safe and transparent platform. To preserve transparency, blockchain-based platforms record all transactions.
The Beckn protocol is used by ONDC backend development to handle monetary transactions such as placing an order, payments, order delivery, and so on. It ensures the quality of these transactions so that they can take place properly.
Because ONDC focuses on local businesses, a hyperlocal search strategy was used to identify local merchants interested in joining the ONDC network. The software looks for nearby retailers and products, such as hyperlocal mobile apps.
Key Features of ONDC Marketplace:
There will be all the important features of an e-commerce marketplace in the ONDC marketplace. However, there is something special about ONDC which makes it serve a bigger purpose. It is brought to bring the small and local retailers online.
1. Decentralization:
The ONDC technology is decentralized and will help businesses for the growth without the need for a centralized platform. Even though there are some decentralized e-commerce platforms, they have a high service charge, and the existing marketplaces are largely centralized at the moment.
2. One Stop Solution:
It will serve as a one-stop solution for all registration needs. Instead of registering on several markets, online merchants must do so on a single chain. For the benefit of the business platform, the registration data will be moved to the other networks with the aid of the platform’s chain.
3. User-focused:
ONDC gives a higher power to the sellers to sell directly with their buyers and can negotiate as per their affordability. Here they don’t need to blindly follow the terms and conditions of the centric platform where the platform owner solely has control over all the terms. With this kind of technology, the participants will hold the power to make this vision a reality.
4. Regular development:
There will be ongoing evolvements in the ONDC technology. As there will be interaction between the sellers and buyers and they will perform daily activities, it will result in continuous improvements. Given the growing daily demand from the decentralized network, it wouldn’t be a terrible assumption that this technology would become widely used in the near future.
How to develop ONDC Marketplace:
In the ONDC marketplace, there are two major entities: Buyers and sellers. Thus, there will be two portals, one for each user entity to develop. To start an ONDC marketplace, the sellers need to register themselves on the portals. In order to undermine the platform-centric strategy, ONDC seeks to advance open networks in the eCommerce sector.
ONDC Buyer Portal:
In the buyer portal, the customers would first register themselves and then they would be able to browse products listed by the ONDC sellers. This customer front will have all the features required to search, add, and make an order.
Products on ONDC are less expensive than those on other well-known websites. Customers can quickly search for the merchants or goods they wish to purchase by using the ONDC apps. Based on the buyer’s entered area pin code, a list of ONDC registered sellers will appear.
All they need to do is choose their favourite merchant, add the item, and submit their order. They can then proceed to place an order, and a delivery partner will be assigned specifically for that order.
Customers can use the ONDC app just like they would any other eCommerce app to buy things. Since there isn’t a special app made for ONDC, customers don’t need to download any additional apps to complete their purchase.
Some of the most popular buyer apps are Paytm, Pincode by Phonepe, Craftsvilla, Magicpin, Mystore, etc.
ONDC Seller Portal:
The vendors can use seller apps such as Mystore, Seller App, Bizcom, Digiit, e-Samudaay, Growth Falcons, and others mentioned here to register as a network participant on ONDC.
To become an ONDC vendor using any of the seller apps, sellers must complete the form. Here, the sellers must enter information such as a GSTIN number, business account details, or other necessary data.
Vendors can then begin selling their goods through ONDC once the seller has uploaded their inventory and listed their products.
The sellers are free to designate employees or enlist the services of any outside business to ship the goods. The sellers can choose a delivery partner based on their price comparison with ONDC-certified delivery partners.
Numerous delivery companies, including Dunzo, Delhivery, and Ekart, are registered with ONDC. With registered delivery partners and the ability to select their employees for the delivery, ONDC helps vendors reduce their transportation expenses.
Why you should choose Ceymox for ONDC marketplace development?
Ceymox Technologies is the leading e-commerce development company in India with the experience of more than 10 years in developing e-commerce stores and support services. We have a huge team of experienced developers who have worked on numerous e-commerce projects in different industries.
