Amazon India senior exec Tiwary expressed enthusiasm for the prospects of ONDC. He also shares the pledges made by Amazon for India’s economy by 2025.
According to Manish Tiwary, Amazon’s Country Manager for India Consumer Business, the company is “excited” about the Open Network for Digital Commerce’s potential in the country’s still-developing e-commerce market. Tiwary called the network a fascinating concept.
The opinions take on relevance in light of the government’s April 2022 launch of India’s own open network for digital commerce, or ONDC pilot programme in five cities. It is a UPI-type protocol, which is part of an ambitious initiative to democratise the rapidly expanding e-commerce industry, support small shops, and lessen the power of online retail giants.
In response to a question regarding his opinions on ONDC, Tiwary stated that the company anticipates innovations that will raise all boats in the ecosystem and attract more buyers and sellers online as it concentrates on serving the next 500 million consumers.
“I am focused on serving the next 500 million customers. Therefore, I look forward to innovations, which will lift all the boats in the ecosystem,” Tiwary said, during a recent interaction with PTI.
Tiwary emphasised that e-commerce in India is still in its infancy while speaking about the influence of ONDC on the business models of established e-commerce businesses like Amazon.
He pointed out that categories like groceries account for approximately 50 percent of shoppers’ baskets. According to him, e-commerce would not even be in the single digits in terms of penetration. Where penetration levels are significantly higher, say 90 percent penetration and everyone is using it, then the issue of threat arises, he continued. Thinking about any industry at infancy at this point of time, he points out that the more innovation, the more players, the faster the acceleration of the industry.
ONDC not a perceived threat for Amazon
Sharing his experience that he is frequently questioned about whether ONDC will pose a threat to Amazon, Tiwary claimed that the company is concentrating on serving the next group of clients.
“So, if ONDC, at scale, manages to get to 200 million 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.
The creation of an open network where different service providers kind of fit in like a jigsaw puzzle and the customer and the seller have that choice is what he called ONDC, calling it a really fascinating idea.
At the current stage, Amazon is engaging very intimately with the ONDC group. He said that Amazon is extremely devoted to the government’s plans. These plans include digitising kiranas and local stores. Tiwary also spoke about some of their initiatives that will launch prior to the ONDC. Therefore, they are excited by the potential of it all. It’s a nascent industry, and they intend to work intimately with the government.
The official continued that Amazon has a profound understanding of technology and sellers, which it will leverage.
The commerce and industry ministry announced on Thursday that, up till now, seven businesses have accepted the ONDC standards and created their own ONDC-compatible apps. These seven businesses include a buyer-side app and five seller-side apps. In Bengaluru, New Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong, and Coimbatore, the network’s pilot phase is now in progress.
Market watchers claim that the current e-commerce platforms are autonomous—work independently and operate with strict regulations and controls. This excludes a large number of small players from the game.
The ONDC goes beyond the existing platform-centric model of digital commerce, in which both the buyer and the vendor must make use of the same platform or application in order to be visible online and conduct business transactions. Therefore, ONDC will promote competition and support startup innovation.
Consumers should expect e-commerce to become more open, inclusive, and accessible for them thanks to ONDC. By using any compatible application or platform, consumers may be able to discover any seller, product, or service, potentially expanding their range of options and increasing freedom of choice.
Pledges made by Amazon
According to Tiwary, Amazon is optimistic about the Indian market, where it has made clear commitments about the creation of jobs, exports, and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) digitalization.
Amazon announced in May of this year that it had facilitated the cumulative creation of more than 11.6 lakh direct and indirect jobs, enabled approximately 5 billion dollars in cumulative exports, and digitised more than 40 lakh MSMEs in India.
The American e-commerce giant vowed in January 2020 to digitise 1 crore MSMEs, enable USD 10 billion in cumulative exports, and generate 20 lakh jobs in India by 2025.
Amazon has said that it is on schedule to meet these commitments and that it has doubled its commitment to exporting from India, enabling USD 20 billion in total exports from the nation by 2025.
