Mumbai-based last-mile logistics providing company, Grab.in, a subsidiary of Reliance Retail has joined Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), according to sources.
Grab was launched in 2013 as the first start-up offering tech-abled delivery solutions to businesses in India. In 2019, the company was acquired by Reliance Retail under the aegis of Reliance Industries Limited.
Another last-mile delivery company Dunzo, also backed by Reliance Retail, is already on the ONDC as a logistics partner. Grab’s entry on ONDC marks formal entry of Reliance into the much-publicised network that has been pitched as a disruptor to counter the supremacy of e-commerce giants including Amazon India and Walmart-owned Flipkart by bringing online the unorganised retailers.
It was earlier reported in May that Reliance, apart from Amazon and Flipkart, was also likely to integrate with ONDC. The network has kicked off a pilot in six Indian cities in various categories, including grocery and small bakery stuff.
Its co-founder, Pratish Sanghvi, said that Grab.in will aid intra-city hyperlocal deliveries. “Currently, we are in the process of initiating the pilot project with the ONDC and it is at a nascent stage. We look forward to growing our partnership with the ONDC and our focus will be to provide a smooth and efficient delivery experience for our clients across sectors,” he said.
Reliance Retail, however, is yet to share any official word on the news update.
Its expansive fleet of bike riders enables Grab to move products in a hyperlocal region together with intracity deliveries through its four-wheeler network. The logistics platform provides its services for businesses ranging from banks, kirana stores, online grocers, offline and online retail commerce, pharmacies, restaurants and telecom i.e., any trade seeking product delivery on a recurring basis.
Third-party logistics players joining the ONDC is significant for order deliveries to be placed on the network. As of now, ONDC officials are tied-up with on-boarding logistics partners, merchants and other stakeholders to ensure more transactions can be carried out across India. Payments app PhonePe is also in advanced stages of integration and that would give a push to ONDC. It provides the vendors with an option to fulfill deliveries off their own or by working along with any of the integrated logistics providers.
E-kart, the logistics arm of Flipkart, along with similar other logistics providers have already joined ONDC. In June, the Shiprocket integration ceremony went live in Lucknow.
A person familiar with the matter said, “The focus right now is on integrations and making sure the consumer experience is good when they try it, because that’s critical. Platforms like PhonePe are focusing on the buyer side integration fully that’s why as the network is getting ready to scale.”
Also Read | ONDC to roll out to public in 75-100 towns by August: CEO T Koshy
While the ONDC network is still at an initial stage, it is expected to have similar sort of an impact on the e-commerce sector as to what the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) had on online payments.
As per a recent Jefferies’ report, the current service levels by Amazon and Flipkart were satisfactory for most users, thereby making the value proposition for ONDC strong enough for customers to make a switch. The report released last month said, “The incremental convenience that UPI offered was a compelling reason for adoption. That may not be the case with ONDC.”
Grab has set a target to go live in 100 cities by August-end. Its chief executive recently said that many players were planning to integrate with ONDC on the buyer and seller side and it is also expected that soon, more than 150 apps would also be integrated with the network.
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