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In-depth guides and case studies where this concept is put to work.
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Start free trial →In-depth guides and case studies where this concept is put to work.
ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) is an initiative by the Government of India, launched in 2022, that establishes an open, interoperable protocol for digital commerce. Unlike a marketplace (where buyers and sellers must both be on the same platform), ONDC is a network protocol: any buyer app that supports ONDC can discover and purchase from any seller that has onboarded to the network, regardless of which platform the seller uses. It's analogous to how email works — you can send email from Gmail to Yahoo without both parties being on the same platform. ONDC applies that interoperability to ecommerce.
India's ecommerce is currently dominated by a small number of large marketplaces — Amazon India, Flipkart, and increasingly Meesho and JioMart. These platforms charge seller commissions of 10–30%, control search visibility, and own the customer relationship. ONDC aims to democratize this by allowing sellers to reach buyers across multiple buyer apps without paying platform commissions to any single gatekeeper.
For D2C brands, ONDC has two primary implications:
New channel access: An ONDC-compliant seller can be discovered by buyers using Paytm, PhonePe, BHIM, or any other ONDC-enabled buyer app — not just the platform the brand is natively listed on. This expands reach without proportionally increasing commission spend.
Discovery visibility: ONDC separates the logistics layer (fulfillment providers), the seller layer (brands and their inventory), and the buyer layer (apps consumers use to shop). Brands with strong inventory management and fast fulfillment can rank well across multiple buyer apps simultaneously.
A D2C organic foods brand based in Pune traditionally sold through their own website (40% of revenue) and Amazon (60% of revenue). They onboard to ONDC through a seller-side platform like Seller App. Within 90 days, their products are discoverable on Paytm Mall, Magicpin, and other ONDC-compliant buyer apps — without listing fees or commission negotiations with each platform. A buyer in Bengaluru searching for organic dal on the PhonePe shopping tab sees the brand's products alongside those from local kirana stores on ONDC. The brand's direct revenue channel grows as they capture buyers from apps that were previously inaccessible to them.
ONDC buyer app interfaces are generally not directly testable by the seller — you don't control the buyer app's UX. However, your product catalog, pricing, and fulfillment policies (all of which influence conversion within ONDC flows) can be tested through controlled variations in listings and pricing strategy, measured against ONDC order data in your analytics.
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