ONDC network to reach 250 million buyers by 2027: report

Publicis Groupe India and Digital India Foundation (DIF) have just launched a report, titled ‘Decoding ONDC - Perspective For Marketers’. The report was launched in the presence of top leaders from various corporations and the Publicis Groupe India leadership team.

It is the first of its kind rich reference material for the C-suite and brand leaders on preparedness and transition to the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) age.

The forecasted reach of the ONDC network over the next five years (by 2027), is 250 million buyers and a geographic footprint of 75% pin codes in India. Long-tail local neighbourhood supply for categories, including grocery, fashion, handicrafts, flight tickets, insurance, among others, will be available on ONDC.

ONDC, along with Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN) and account aggregators, will help transform supply chains and lending operations of retailers, wholesalers and logistics operators in the country. Due to investments in digital public infrastructure, more than two million retailers are expected to be enabled with the e-commerce landscape. ONDC will be one of the core parts of comprehensive reform of digital markets in India in a fair, open and transparent manner. 

In a Publicis survey, involving the C-suite and top executives, 91% of respondents reported that ONDC is relevant to their business, while 82% cited increased customer reach. 64% cited product discoverability and 64% saw reduced dependence on large marketplace providers as the benefits of ONDC. 18% have already started integrating with ONDC.

Consumer packaged goods were the most advanced, when it came to awareness of ONDC. Banking and financial services, travel, transport and logistics, food services and hospitality are the other industries that are making ONDC part of their growth strategy.

ONDC's scope is huge in India, as digital sales is still only 7.8% of the total retail sales; versus 46.3% in China and 36.3% in the UK.

Arvind Gupta, co-founder & head, DIF and an ONDC board member, said,  “The joint report with Publicis, highlights the vast potential of ONDC and enabling digital public infrastructure for SMEs, local neighbourhood stores and brand leaders, and how it will revolutionise the e-retail, e-transactions, and logistics domains and offer more value for consumers. The report is packed with new insights and information. It helps the MSME owners, local shopkeepers, C-Suite and top executives to re-imagine the e-commerce  landscape and pivot to new opportunities.”

Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe South Asia, added, “Pivoting to commerce capabilities is a top priority for us. Our focus, in recent months, has been to gear our vast pool of commerce specialists, to help our clients prepare and deliver for ONDC.”

“UX for search-based app navigation, content and taxonomy best practices for product discoverability, technology know-how to build on the Beckn protocol, the right data architecture to manage and turn first party data into insights, and store operations for smooth last mile delivery, are just some of the things that our teams have been skilled for.”

You can access the full report here.