Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has grown 500x in transactions and 40x in merchants since the start of the year. “ONDC has systematically worked towards adding more network participants, merchants, cities, and transactions (orders per day) to the network,” it said on Thursday.
ONDC commenced its alpha testing with the first-ever real-world transactions in April 2022 and commenced its beta testing with grocery and food delivery domains in Bengaluru at the end of September last year. The number of retail merchants at ONDC increased from 800+ in January 2023 to 35,000+ currently. The number of orders increased from 50 per day in January to 25,000+ orders per day in the last week, ONDC said. It has also expanded its geographic footprint with the number of cities from 85 in January to 230+ as of now. In January, ONDC added mobility in Kochi, in Bengaluru in April and the two cities have witnessed a jump to 35,000+ rides a day.
Besides, domains like fashion, beauty & personal care, and electronics & appliances were added in January this year, and currently there are 600+ merchants on these domains and have completed 1,300+ transactions since they have gone live. “Most of these orders have been intercity, with major intercity logistics providers like ShipRocket, Delhivery, Loadshare, etc. being live as part of the network,” ONDC said in a statement. ONDC’s network participants has increased from 26 in January 2023 to 46 currently. “Notable new additions on the buyer side include PhonePe’s Pincode and Airpay, while leading enterprises such as HUL and ITC, as well as promising startups, have gone live on the seller side,” it added.
In terms of performance, ONDC added that despite the surge in volumes, the network has maintained key performance indicators such as order fill rate and delivery timelines that are consistent with current industry standards. “Product-related complaints through ONDC have been negligible. Any issues that have arisen have been promptly and effectively addressed or are being addressed, with users receiving refunds wherever applicable,” the statement said. ONDC was incorporated on 31 December 2021 as an initiative of the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce.
