Indian e-commerce platform Snapdeal is reportedly set to foray into the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a UPI (Unified Payments Interface) type initiative by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, next month.
According to the company, it completed the onboarding contract for joining the ONDC platform earlier in July.
It added that both teams are in the primary stages of finalizing the required technical integration for enabling a pan-India to begin by mid-August.
During the launch, 2500+ cities and towns are expected to be enabled for access, and later on more cities and towns will be added as per the ONDC network expansion plan for the year.
Himanshu Chakrawarti, President of Snapdeal, said that the rising digitization of the retail sector in India is a revolutionary prospect that can offer significant benefits to buyers, sellers, and stakeholders. Snapdeal looks forward to a strong collaboration with ONDC on this path-breaking endeavor.
Several third-party logistics providers currently working with Snapdeal will be offering both the services of inter and intra-city logistics. The e-commerce major is also planning to explore more leveraging on-network logistics options offered on the ONDC platform.
Reports cite that, Snapdeal will be arriving in three categories – home, fashion and beauty, and personal care.
The government, along with ONDC, is trying to build a leading interoperable open platform in a move to break the e-commerce dominations and create a more democratized digital marketplace by helping SMEs (small and medium enterprises) along with small traders online.
Piyush Goyal, Union Commerce and Industry Minister, has recently announced that ONDC will progressively be expanded to more cities in the coming future, as it has the capability to link the entire farm value chain.
The Centre also foresees ONDC becoming a non-profit and private sector-led organization for emphasizing ethical and responsible behavior while offering rigorous governance, trust, liability, and transparency norms.
Source Credit - https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/snapdeal-to-go-live-on-govts-ondc-network-next-month-1128119.html