Amazon Boards The ONDC Bus, To Integrate Logistics Network & SmartCommerce Services Soon

Ecommerce giant Amazon has announced that it will integrate its SmartCommerce services and logistics network with the Centre’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). 

With this integration, Amazon plans to provide greater technology support to India’s seller community and also, empower small businesses operating in the country. 

Amazon said the move will be an important step towards the ONDC’s vision of democratising ecommerce across the country. It will also benefit the scores of consumers with wider choices. 

“Amazon’s vision and commitment for India is closely aligned with ONDC’s objectives of digitally enabling small businesses, and providing convenience and choice to customers across the country. We are excited about the opportunities to mobilise Amazon’s industry-leading infrastructure and technology, including logistics, and small business digitization tools, to help the ONDC accelerate its objectives,” said Manish Tiwary, country manager, India Consumer Business, Amazon India.

Amazon claims to have digitised more than 4 Mn small businesses and kirana stores in India, providing technical support for online selling. 

Amazon’s SmartCommerce services, which is an AWS-powered suite of SaaS products, enables MSMEs to develop and scale their business across the digital arena. It will also help small businesses to onboard the ONDC network.

“We are happy that Amazon has a definite roadmap to being a part of the ONDC network and is taking its first step in coming in as the logistics partner in the ONDC network which is a globally pioneering idea established with a view to democratise digital commerce in India, and we also hope that the buyer and seller platforms are onboarded as early as possible,” said, T Koshy, managing director and CEO of ONDC.

Amazon.in, which is operated by Amazon Seller Services, claims to have boarded more than 11 Lakh sellers with over 50% coming from Tier-II cities and beyond. 

The ecommerce giant also asserted that it is delivering products across all serviceable pin codes and also, aims to digitise 1 Cr small businesses by 2025. 

The development comes at a time when the Centre’s ONDC is implementing its expansion across India. The platform is currently operating in beta testing mode in 15 cities including Delhi NCR, Shillong Bhopal and Lucknow, among others, shared T Koshy, chief executive of ONDC. 

He also informed that so far, the ONDC has boarded more than 18,000 merchants across product categories, coming from over 150 towns and cities in India. 

Some of the players that have integrated with the ONDC platform include Delhivery, IDFC Bank, Kotak, Paytm, Phonepe, Shiprocket and Dunzo.

Earlier, the ONDC platform shared plans to register 900 Mn buyers and 1.2 Mn sellers on the network, and further achieve a gross merchandise value (GMV) of $48 Bn by 2024.