Ready, Set, Grocery! Ola Prepares to Shake Up the Delivery Market

Time to think other than Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart, there's a new contender in the lightning-fast grocery delivery race – Ola! The ridesharing giant, led by Bhavish Aggarwal, is revving its engine to enter the competitive grocery delivery market via the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

Wonderful to brainstorm with @anshoo @mymagicpin and plan for the next phase of @ONDC_Official growth!@Olacabs is building the logistics for ONDC to truly democratise e-commerce for all brands and retailers! Many BIG announcements on 15th Aug! @KoshyTK pic.twitter.com/Ta1OT7tkdR

— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) June 25, 2024

ONDC: A Game Changer for E-commerce

Imagine an e-commerce landscape where your friendly neighborhood store is just a tap away. That's the power of ONDC – a revolutionary network that empowers small sellers and local businesses to compete with big online marketplaces. By partnering with ONDC, Ola is making a strategic move to tap into this vast, growing network and supercharge its service offerings.

ONDC, established to democratize India's e-commerce ecosystem, is set to reach the milestone of 10 million transactions by June. The network has been growing steadily, adding one million transactions each month.

This marks a staggering fivefold increase year-on-year. The network has already seen massive growth in retail orders, with May boasting 5 million orders and a record-breaking single day of 200,000 transactions.

Ola's Second Coming: Redemption in the Grocery Aisle

This isn't Ola's first foray into groceries. They dipped their toes in the water back in 2015 with a standalone store, but it wasn't meant to be. Fast forward to today, and Ola is back with a plan, leveraging the learnings from past attempts. Their partnership with ONDC allows them to offer their best-in-class logistics expertise to smaller sellers on the network, including eco-friendly EV-based delivery at competitive rates.

According to some media reports, Ola already processes a whopping 30% of ONDC food orders in major cities like Delhi and Bengaluru! This dominance in the food delivery space positions them perfectly to conquer the online grocery market. Plus, they're using their logistics muscle to provide super-affordable EV deliveries to smaller sellers, making them an attractive partner on the ONDC network.

E-commerce for Everyone: The Government's ONDC Vision

The Indian government has a bold vision: to boost e-commerce penetration to a quarter of the market within the next few years. Through ONDC, they aim to unlock a potential gross merchandise value of $48 billion. 

The onboarding of local businesses is another key focus. As per ONDC website, in India, more than 12 million sellers earn their livelihood by selling or reselling products and services. However, only 15,000 of these sellers (0.125% of the total) have enabled e-commerce. E‑retail has been out of reach for the majority of sellers, especially from small towns and rural areas.

Big names like Hindustan Unilever are committed to bringing 1.3 million local stores onto ONDC, while the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is partnering to empower a million women entrepreneurs, aiming to significantly increase their earning potential.

The Final Lap: Ola, ONDC, and a Grocery Delivery Revolution

Ola's upcoming grocery delivery launch via ONDC signifies a major step in their mission to dominate online retail. With their proven logistics muscle and strategic partnerships, Ola can give Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart a run for their money, all while contributing to a more democratic and thriving e-commerce landscape in India. So, fasten your seatbelts – the grocery delivery race is about to get a whole lot faster (and greener)!

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