India is democratizing commerce: Thampy Koshy, ONDC

At the second edition of the exchange4media D2C Revolution Summit and Awards, Thampy Koshy, CEO, ONDC, delivered a special address on ‘ONDC: The Game Changer for D2C Brands.’ One of the dynamos of India’s digital transformation, having played an integral role in the creation of Aadhaar, GSTN, and Co-WIN among other national institutions.

Observing that like many of the brands, the ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) was also a start-up. Koshy delivered a short, but powerful, address on how the company was creating an all-inclusive digital commerce ecosystem and generating opportunities for ambitious start-up companies, the cream of which was present in the room.

“Today, if you look at the world of digital commerce, these are mostly the domain of walled gardens. There are few large enterprises, not just in India, but around the world and they are in every domain. It could be consumer goods, food, mobility, hospitality everywhere and you have a few large enterprises that have a stranglehold on the buyers and sellers,” noted Koshy.

He examined how if you're a seller in a physical world, you have the complete freedom as a brand manager to do your advertising, promotions, discounts and all else. And you also have that access to the data about who is buying.

“Whereas in the digital world, that option is very, very limited. There are a few large players who have a stranglehold on 80-90% of the market. And there are a lot of small players who are trying to establish themselves,” said Koshy, adding that these small, newer entities were forced to play ball, as existing outside those walled gardens, and creating their own app, website and digital marketplace in general was very tough and very expensive.

“Customer acquisition in walled gardens is not easy. It comes with a lot of effort and a lot of costs. That's why we in India decided an idea of democratizing commerce, which would mean that every seller should have the equal opportunity to make their products and the catalogs visible in an open network on their terms and can submit an order fulfill the order collect them at their terms, and also have all information about their transactions and clients with them and not being at the mercy of some large intermediaries in this whole journey,” he said.

This becomes even more critical for smaller brands or businesses. “I would do the same if I was building a walled garden. I would like to see a few large brands who will give me a significant amount of revenue as their agent, if I can push their products to my captive clients. And if I can shape my consumers through a variety of means to believe that the products that I tell them to buy is what is good for them, not what they think is good for them,” added Koshy, noting that it's not a choice of the buyer, but rather the buyer being shaped.

“Our mental models are only around platforms so we can think only of platform-based things.  So, when you let those mental bonds break and think of an open network, humongous possibilities come up for innovation, for specialization, and also having a better control on your own products, and your own terms of trade. So, if you have a very smart product, you can make it available on the ONDC network multiple ways,” said Koshy.

Again observing that ONDC was still a young start-up, he said that several entities, from fintech companies like PhonePe, PayTM, and Spice Money, as well as startups like MYStore were present on the ONDC. Koshy urged businesses that wanted to be seen in the increasingly speeding carousel of digital commerce to make their set-ups ONDC compliant, much like they had made their payments UPI-compliant so as to get a leg-up.

“And every Tuesday, our chief business officer runs a business briefing in the afternoon to help people like you to go in deeper and make a decision of how and when to participate. If you send a mail to even my email id, one of my colleagues will send you the details,” said Koshy.

The id, in case you were wondering, is koshy@ondc.org

You can watch the full address here.