E-Commerce's Big Shake-Up

The open network for digital commerce aims to break the platform-centric structure of e-commerce to establish a model that creates a level playing field for even the small merchants and spurs competition in the space

- Binu Paul

WIDENING THE AMBIT

1 Nearly 90 per cent of kiranas are unorganised or selforganised, and most of them are digitally excluded. Only about 20 per cent of the internet users in India are online shoppers

2 ONDC’s focus is on bringing new users to e-commerce rather than shifting the existing user base. It helps small businesses increase discoverability while operating on a reasonable commission structure

3 The network aims to bring structural changes to the current platform-centric e-commerce models, and alter the discount-led online buying behaviours

4 It offers merchants the freedom to negotiate prices with logistics providers and also choose the seller platforms they want to work with. It will also offer online buyers access to more sellers and, therefore, more choices