Government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) saw a significant growth in the recent festival week. The network recorded nearly 1.2 million transactions in the festive week leading up to Diwali (Nov 6 to Nov 13) across 600+ cities.
Driving this growth were categories including food and beverages, grocery, electronics, fashion, home and kitchen, mobility, and health and wellness.
“The increasing trend of festive shopping moving online has pushed customers to look for the best deals across various platforms and apps. With ONDC Network, consumers now have one more alternative that goes beyond the traditional ecommerce apps. Our record transactions indicate a changing consumer behaviour wherein shoppers are eager to explore options to secure the best deals and discounts,” said T Koshy, MD & CEO, ONDC.
According to RedSeer Strategy Consultants, the first four days of this year’s festive season sales showed a 16 per cent year-on-year growth, reaching a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of Rs 29,000 crore, surpassing the previous year’s Rs 25,000 crore.
Gearing up to the festive season, ONDC launched a network-level gift card in September to empower companies for corporate gifting and employee engagement. The card enabled consumers to shop across thousands of sellers on the Network, using any ONDC-enabled buyer applications. Unlike traditional gift cards tied to a specific brand or platform, the ONDC Network Gift Card allowed consumers to choose from a range of products and brands, spanning categories such as food, fashion, electronics, and home & kitchen essentials.
ONDC recently announced that it now accommodates more than 300 social sector sellers spanning 18 states. Since the beginning of 2023, the network has processed over 5,000 orders within the social sector domain. Currently, the network showcases approximately 7,000 unique products and has introduced over 265 sellers to digital commerce. In total, the network has claimed to have made e-commerce accessible to an estimated one million artisans, weavers and food processors.