India is preparing a major DigiDukaan push to digitise 1.4 crore kirana stores, as industry stakeholders discuss a coordinated digital transformation for the country’s sprawling General Trade network. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), together with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), convened the CPG Roundtable, Bharat Commerce Chintan Shivir on Friday (June 12) to plan how to bring millions of neighbourhood shops online and integrate them into formal digital supply chains.

DigiDukaan is an initiative aimed at giving kirana stores digital tools for ordering, inventory visibility, scheme tracking and working‑capital optimisation so they can transact more efficiently with distributors and brands. Today, most of India’s 1.4 crore kiranas operate with fragmented ordering systems, manual record‑keeping and limited secondary‑sales visibility, which leads to inventory inefficiencies, higher costs and poor scheme implementation.

It seeks to address these gaps by enabling direct procurement, digitised collections and shop‑level data flows that improve fill rates, reduce field costs for distributors and provide brands with actionable demand signals.

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A nationwide challenge: Modernising general trade

India’s General Trade ecosystem, which comprises more than 1.4 crore kirana stores and accounts for roughly 75–80 per cent of FMCG sales, remains heavily reliant on fragmented ordering systems, limited inventory visibility and largely manual sales processes. These structural limitations create inefficiencies for retailers, distributors and brands, including suboptimal fill rates, poor scheme implementation and working-capital stress for shopkeepers.

“Despite contributing the bulk of FMCG consumption, a large part of the retail network still operates with manual processes and low digital visibility,” the release said, underscoring why a digital push is urgent.

What ‘DigiDukaan’ offers?

DigiDukaan is positioned as a platform to help kirana stores increase margins and improve working capital management by enabling direct procurement, offering clearer visibility into promotional schemes, and raising fill rates. For distributors, the platform promises to expand market reach without imposing additional field staff costs through digitised orders and collections, while enhancing coverage of retailers.

Brands stand to benefit from direct access to shop-level demand signals, better secondary-sales visibility and more efficient deployment and tracking of promotional schemes.

Early traction and pilot markets

According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) release, DigiDukaan has seen early adoption in Hyderabad, where more than 10,000 retailers and over 35 brands were onboarded through Qwipo. The government noted that the platform is scheduled to launch in Jaipur on June 19, 2026 via Salescode, with further rollouts planned across Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR in the coming months.

Industry roundtable: Who attended and what they discussed

The Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Roundtable drew leaders from major consumer goods companies, distributor networks, technology providers and logistics partners.

Participants discussed several pressing issues affecting general trade:

  • Fragmented retailer engagement and the difficulty of maintaining consistent relationships across millions of small stores.
  • Rising costs of sales forces and the operational burden that places on distributors and brands.
  • Inventory inefficiencies and limited visibility into secondary sales at the shop level.
  • Intensifying competition from digital-first retail models that are changing customer expectations and supply chains.

“Participants explored how open digital infrastructure can improve retailer access, distributor productivity, demand planning and scheme effectiveness across the FMCG value chain,” the release said, highlighting the sector’s interest in interoperable, platform-agnostic solutions.

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Open digital infrastructure and ONDC partnership

DPIIT’s collaboration with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) reflects a push toward open digital frameworks that enable interoperability between platforms and stakeholders. Roundtable discussions centred on how such open infrastructure can bring consistent market access to kirana stores, reduce duplication of effort for distributors, and provide brands with actionable, shop-level insights.

Planned expansion and implications

With a launch schedule that moves from Hyderabad’s pilots to Jaipur (Salescode) on June 19 and planned rollouts in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR, DigiDukaan’s expansion aims to create digital ordering and fulfilment pathways across India’s large and fragmented retail base. If scaled successfully, the platform could lower distribution costs, increase scheme effectiveness and give small retailers better negotiating leverage through improved working-capital options.

What are the challenges ahead?

The roundtable also acknowledged obstacles to widescale digitisation. These include uneven digital literacy among retailers, gaps in last-mile logistics, resistance to change among long-established distributor-retailer relationships, and the need for compelling incentives for adoption. Ensuring data privacy, maintaining low transaction costs and integrating with existing enterprise resource planning systems were also cited as implementation priorities.

The government and industry leaders framed DigiDukaan as a potentially transformative step to modernise India’s General Trade network by combining platform technology, distributor partnerships and open infrastructure principles. With initial adoption in Hyderabad and a fast-moving launch calendar, the initiative will be closely watched by FMCG companies, logistics providers and retailers alike as it seeks to bring the country’s traditional retail backbone into the digital era.