Paytm e-commerce’s Paytm Mall’s business will now be built on Open Network for Digital Commerce with an aim to bring a larger impact to small businesses and explore export business opportunities, according to company’s CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a network of several small and large-scale offline and online traders. Even though it is in a nascent stage, it is being seen as a solution to break the dominance of large e-commerce firms.
“Keeping in mind our attention to building an open platform for e-commerce, our @PaytmMall’s business now be built on @ONDC_Official. It will be cost effective, scalable and bring even larger impact to small businesses,” he said.
This move will enable the company to create a long-term sustainable business in partnership with ONDC that seeks to democratise the purchase and sale of goods in the Indian market. One97 Communications, Paytm’s parent firm, has indirect shareholding in Paytm Mall’s parent entity Paytm E-commerce Private Limited (PEPL).
With this, Paytm E-commerce’s early investors–Alibaba and Ant Group have exited the company.
Several e-commerce majors, including Flipkart, Reliance Retail and Amazon are planning to join an ambitious open e-commerce network named Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
As per a report by The Economic Times, the network’s pilot programme to onboard kiranas and small and medium businesses is already underway in Bengaluru and four other cities.
