ONDC ( Sustainathon - A case study competition submission)

This pitch deck secured us the 1st position in the case study competition. The challenge was to identify key obstacles to the growth of ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), a Section-8 company under the Government of India, and propose impactful solutions to address them.

2. Industry Overview
By 2020, India ranked third globally in online shopper base size, boasting of 140 million
e-retail shoppers
Objectives
Plan Of Action
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Understanding the company market and industry
Identifying pain points and problems
Develop solutions across multiple time frames
Analyse stakeholder benefits
Case Background
Problem Statement
A key challenge for ONDC is preventing market domination in the open network model
similar to current platforms.
ONDC's success depends on its ability to onboard MSMEs from even the remotest
parts of India.
To ensure participants maintain good catalog management, which is crucial for their
success on these platforms.
ONDC does not play a direct role in transactions, raising concerns about participant and
user protection.
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E-commerce market in India grew from 16% to 19% of global retail in 2020.
India's rapid digital commerce growth is driven by affordable internet, widespread
smartphone use, and robust startup investments.
90% of hyperlocal kirana stores and around 42.5 million MSME’s are digitally excluded
Ensure user protection and
transaction safety
Promoting inclusivity
and fair competition
Democratization of
Digital Commerce
Executive Summary
ONDC aims at democratizing ecommerce by creating an open, interoperable network for all
aspects of exchange of goods and services.

3. Core Challenges Other Challenges
Market Domination and Concentration
Grassroot Penetration
Catalog Management
User Protection and Transaction Safety
Customer Service and Reviews
Inconsistent UI/UX
Government Competition
Maintenance Tenders
Beckn Protocol
Rarely any seller on ONDC offers
returns or exchanges and there is
severe lack of customer reviews,
accountability and trust on the
platform
Potential gaps and challenges faced by ONDC
Different seller network participants
offer a differently designed platform
to access ONDC which leads to
confusion among the buyers and
sellers and a poor ecosystem
GeM (Government E-Marketplace) has
received mandates by the Indian
government to be the sole supplier of the
billion dollar public sector buying industry
which completely removes ONDC from a
major chunk of potential revenue
Maintenance of ONDC is floated as
tenders, which means if one company
has the maintenance tenders for a
certain period and they lose that
contract the next time, it leads to
inconsistencies in the platform.
Beckn is the decentralised
protocol on which ONDC is
based which also raises
concerns of scalability, security,
safety, and regulation on the
same
ONDC needs to ensure it does not lead to
market domination by a few players
through its ecosystem.
ShadowFax has a stronghold as a delivery
and logistics partner in ONDC which can
lead to the building of another monopoly
Kirana store continues to represent 75-78%
of total consumer goods sales in India yet
only 0.125% have enabled e-commerce
which shows extremely low penetration of
digital commerce
Since ONDC is decentralised, there is a
concern for the protection of network
participants and users from frauds
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4. Industry Analysis
A comprehensive analysis of the market ONGC is aiming to expand
into in the coming years
Target Demographic
Monthly ONDC Orders have seen an exponential rise
since launch and widespread adoption, peaking at
around 7.5Mn orders in the month of March 2024
Reference
% of Digitized Kirana Stores % of Digitized MSMEs
Unorganized retail is a space
where digitization is seriously
lacking where only 10% of
Kirana Stores and 33% of
MSMEs have been digitized so
far
ONGC Order Growth
Monthly Orders(Mn)
Jan'23 Aug'23 Nov'23 Jan'24 Mar'24
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10% 33%
Industry Segments
E-Commerce Market Size
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12
Retail
F&B
Grocery
Electronics
Fashion
Beauty
Healthcare
Hospitality
Agriculture
Mobility
Handcrafts
Furnishing
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
0
50
100
150
200
Order splits in E-Commerce
Zomato Swiggy ONGC
Zomato
2000000Swiggy
2000000
ONGC
60000

5. Short
Term
Technology Service
Providers
Dividing the action plan into short, medium, and long term
focusing on different aspects in eachMulti-Step Action Plan
Medium
Term
Tender Stability
Grassroot Agents
Easier supplier-side compliance
Fair visibility of small businesses
Buyer Network Participant
Integrate customer reviews, chatbot,
voice assistant ratings
Seller Network Participant
AI-based catalogue management
Strengthen Beckn Protocol
Secure gateways and integrations
Consistent UI/UX Elements
New Policies Protocol improvement
Long
Term

6. Medium-Term Plan Long-Term Plan Short-Term PlanStake-Holder Impact
Resolve disputes between
the buyer/seller and network
participants in a manner that
ensures transparency with
a multi-level redressal
system ensuring complete
ticket resolution AI chatbot & voice
assistant AI-based catalogue
management Grievance Redressal
System Customers Reviews &
Ratings
By integrating steps
like a verified reviews
section, using AI
review moderation
tools, and providing
review summaries, we
can increase user trust
and adaptability
Focus on improving buyer and seller network participant experience using
Technology Service Providers
Using ML models to
make a catalogue
management
system, with
demand
forecasting,
recommendations,
and anomaly
detection
Utilise Natural
Language
Processing to
integrate AI chatbots
& voice assistants
which enhances the
user experience
Short Term Plan

7. Medium-Term PlanLong-Term Plan Short-term Plan Stake-Holder Impact Tender Stability Grassroot Agents Easier Supply-Side
Compliance
Fair visibility of small
businesses
Focus on improving and implementing new policies to enhance system
efficiency and outreach
Develop a better
legal framework with
less red-tape and
easier compliances to
ensure smoother
onboarding of smaller
businesses
Ensuring a fair playing-
ground to small
businesses, reducing
biases in search and
recommendation
algorithms and focusing
on promoting
hyperlocal suppliers
rather than major players
Employing an agent policy
where small mom-and-pop
shop owners are trained per
area pincode who are then
employed as dual agents
with the task of onboarding
and educating kirana stores
on the benefits of ONDC
Implement long-term
contracts rather than
multiple floating tenders
to ensure consistency in
implementation and
maintenance of the
platform
Medium Term Plan

8. Medium-Term Plan Long-Term PlanShort-term Plan Stake-Holder Impact Strengthen Beckn Protocol Secure Gateways and Integrations
Consistent UI/UX Elements
Focus on protocol and technological improvements to ensure long-term
sustainability and scalability of the platform
Enhance the working of
NP account providers,
linking them with Recon
service providers for
smooth and safe
transactions with
continuous research
and improvements
Ensuring
consistency of
basic elements
across network
participant apps
to achieve smooth
inter-operability
Implementing proper
consensus
mechanisms and
smart contracts to
improve security and
strength of the Beckn
protocol and increase
trust in the platform
Long Term Plan

9. Medium-Term Plan Long-Term Plan Short-Term Plan Stakeholder Impact
AI-based catalogue management
system will prove to be a game-
changer for businesses using seller
apps for their data insights and analysis
Grievance redressel system with
transparency to improve trust and life
of sellers as well as buyers
Seller App
Improved app interface - AI chatbots
and voice assistant improve the user
experience on the buyer app and
enhance user retention rate
Payment Gateways
Buyer App
Grievance Redressal: Provide in-
depth and quick customer support
using AI to complement traditional
methods
Rating System: Ensuring
transparency and organic growth of
products, boosting trust
Buyers
Logistics Providers
Assessing impact of the changes on all stakeholders in the ONDC platform
Stakeholder Impact
Sellers
Beckn Protocol
ONDC Governance Tech Companies
Easier compliance & onboarding process
with offline agents improves the digital
inclusion scenario for small businesses
With research & development for
continual improvement of Beckn
protocol, it will lead to an increase in
reliability and scalability of the platform
Improved security of payment
gateways which leads to better user
trust as well as a fair place for FinTech
companies to earn their mettle and
implement technologies
Changes in policies, regulations and
tender system of ONDC reshapes the
governance and improves the efficiency
of the system
Ensuring fair competition between
logistics providers, eliminating
chances of a monopoly sprouting
Improving the ecosystem for
technology service providers to
make sure the best systems are
constantly implemented

10. Market Domination and
Concenteration
Overview of the impact made by various solutions
Ensuring fair visibility of
small businesses, and
promoting extremely
local suppliers rather
than a big player in a
major city
User protection and
transaction oversight
Onboarding MSMEs from
remote areas
New Policies
Catalog Managment
Protocol Improvement
Grassroots agents will
encourage remote MSME
adoption, coupled with
strategic marketing and
lucrative incentive schemes
Implementation of AI
catalogue management
systems will ensure improved
experience of sellers and a
better reputation
Enhancing the
connectivity between NP
account providers and
Recon service providers
for safe transactions with
strong grievance
redressal system
Reducing compliance red
tape and streamlining the
onboarding process to make
the process more inclusive
and accessible to everyone
Improving the technology,
especially the Beckn protocol
will ensure smooth scalability
and viability of ONDC as it
grows, while increasing the
trust in the system

11. By integrating with ONDC,
Zomato and Flipkart can
access a broader customer
base across regions and
demographics, including those
not currently on their platforms,
thereby increasing their market
reach
Platform Integration
Existing startups can diversify
and increase their user base by
utilising core competencies of
ONDC like the multiple segments it
can target
Flipkart may utilise the food and
beverages category on the
platform to target new customers
Diversification
ONDC will lead to an increase in the
number of businesses in the digital
economy, which means a higher
acceptance and penetration of e-
commerce in the grassroots of India.
Zomato, Swiggy, Flipkart etc. can
benefit from this increased market
size, which they can target by
innovation thus leading to an
increase in revenue for the entire
industry
Market increase
How ONDC and other current Indian statups in the same space can coexist?
Enabling exisitng startups
Local Sourcing
Circular Economy
Sustainable Practices
ONDC can prioritise and promote
local businesses, which reduces
emissions associated with
transportation
ONDC can encourage take-back
programs where customers can return
used products for recycling or
repurposing
Enabling EV deliveries
Prioritising logistics and delivery
companies who utilise sustainable
delivery methods like electric
vehicles and route optimization.