Amazon India’s Manish Tiwary Calls ONDC ‘A Fascinating Idea’

In a conversation with PTI, Manish Tiwary, Amazon’s Country Manager for the India Consumer Business, has called ONDC ‘a fascinating idea’. He added that Amazon India is excited about the prospects of Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) in the ecommerce market

The comment comes shortly after the commerce and IT ministry announced that seven companies (five sellers, one buyer and one logistics platform) have become ONDC compatible. Another 80 firms are currently working with the platform and are at different stages of integration. The network has also been piloted in Bengaluru, New Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong and Coimbatore.

Tiwary’s comment assumes significance since Amazon is one of the largest ecommerce players, and bringing ONDC will give the online seller aggregator tough competition from virtually anyone joining the open network.

ONDC is an open protocol-based digital commerce platform, a network similar to UPI, that will enable buyers and sellers across a wide variety of segments to list on the platform and transact with a gamut of digital-savvy consumers. Basically, ONDC plans to help sellers cross-network, converting every ecommerce platform into interoperable networks.

When asked about his views on ONDC, Tiwary said the company is looking forward to innovations as it is keen on serving the next 500 Mn customers.

He added, “If ONDC, at scale, manages to get to 200 Mn sellers, that’s awesome. Because you’re getting people to then sell digital. So that’s the overall thing. There’s no question of threatening, we are at an early stage of…I call it infancy, in that sense,” Tiwary noted.

Tiwary pointed out that the entire ecommerce segment is in its infancy. He added that the competition is still with traditional commerce rather than with other ecommerce players, where penetration in an average Joe’s buying basket is still in single digits.

The question of threat from ONDC (technically, other ecommerce players) comes where penetration levels are far higher, the Amazon chief said.

ONDC is a very fascinating idea, which is about creating an open network where various service providers sort of fit in like a jigsaw puzzle and the consumer and the seller get that choice, Amazon’s Tiwary added.

Amazon is also working closely with the ONDC group, with an aim to digitise Kiranas and local stores. Not just via ONDC, the etailer’s plans for India precede that of the open network to create jobs, build exports and digitise MSMEs.

In May 2022, Amazon claimed that it created more than 11 Lakh direct and indirect jobs, enabled nearly $5 Bn in exports and digitised 40 Lakh+ MSMEs in India. It plans to digitise 1 Cr+ MSMEs, enable $20 Bn in exports and create 20 Lakh jobs in India by 2025 by investing $1 Bn in the country.