For long, Indian businessmen were fighting competitors many times their size and with money power they couldn’t match up to. They were being forced to fight with one hand tied to their back. They were left to suffocate. Left gasping for breath.
Referral fee, closing fee, fulfillment fee, weight handling fee, cancellation fee, penalty fee, fee on fee, fee for not paying any fee, etc. This fee fever has limited businesses from attempting online selling, with its serious aftermath of feeble success.
The fresh air has now arrived, ONDC network! Government’s democratic e-commerce initiative is here to twist the tale!
ONDC network bags anticipation, scrutiny, investments and efforts. And we feel obliged to bring true stories to you. What is ONDC network? What is the ground reality? What challenges did it solve? Is there a success story?
How is ONDC network changing the lives of Indian retailers?
ONDC network equips every Indian retailer with not just one, but multiple selling mediums. Thus putting them on the pedestal, on par with major e-commerce players. As ONDC network starts going live, primarily, ONDC network solves these challenges of Indian retailers – sustaining against market monopolies and connecting with the rightful claim of consumers.
We spoke to three of our customers who are live on ONDC network – an organic farm, a fruit and vegetable store and a supermarket. Visionary businesses, all of them, started their business from scratch just about 5 years ago. And are succeeding with the best business resources. Today, they have broken new grounds in their cities through ONDC network as another feat of success.
Excerpts from the case studies:
- Profitable margins and no intermediaries
- Wider consumer reach
- Online store visibility to the chosen extent of delivery
- Fear no algorithms or policies; Only quality matters
- Confidence to fight high-level retailers’ marketing potential
We are placing our case studies for your perusal.
Paanal Farms
The Disturbing Cause:
Getting into part-time organic farming 5 years back made us realize we cannot decide the pricing for our produce. We were pushed to sell it even lower to production cost. This made us empathize with full-time organic farmers of our state. We, a group of 13 friends in sales and technical roles, resigned from our jobs. We united to help organic farmers in taking their produce directly to consumers. Our motto was to ensure profitable margins for organic farmers while making it affordable for consumers.
What did we do?
‘Paanal farms – F2C Bridging farmers and consumers’, is an organic farming retail and home delivery business. We’ve been operating in Chennai for the last 3+ years. Paanal translates to farms of paddy fields/natural farming. Our major products are organic rice, pulses and oil produced by organic farmers in the Kongu belt (Erode, Coimbatore, Sathyamangalam).
The Challenge:
The major challenge in our business growth is reaching the entitled consumers and fighting the online corporate competition. We heard about ONDC network and joined it via Gofrugal, who is also helping us manage our inventory and billing.
With ONDC network, we are confident in selling to a wider consumer base in the city. And have the freedom to decide the prices, offers and delivery policies. Most importantly, no corporate can intervene in our store’s visibility to consumers with any algorithm. We will stand by the quality of the product and services we do.
End of the day, ONDC network will power our goal to get the right output for the farmers’ produce. ONDC network will take our product to a wider audience online, converting our farmers’ sweat into sweeter profits.
Koyambed Market
The Disturbing Cause:
Our 100-year-old family business of health supplement distribution was not primarily leading to healthy lives. Although it gave us money, it could not give us satisfaction. At a young age, I observed slippers being sold in air-conditioned spaces, while fruits and vegetables were sold by the drainage.
What did I do?
I started my small-sized fruit and vegetable shop to sell them under hygienic conditions. Understanding our customers’ preferences, we sell fruits and vegetables sourced from local farmers. We also sell goods from other markets based on seasonal demands. Around 80% of our sales is dependent on the produces from local farmers.
The Challenge:
Villagers in and around 30kms prefer ordering products online, but for fruits and vegetables because of quality concerns. Since our products are sourced from local lands, we attempted to get them to consumers’ homes. We tried telephonic orders, but creating awareness was difficult.
ONDC network is going to fix this dearth of awareness by manifesting the quality of service to consumers at their doorsteps. ONDC network gives lower-tier city sellers and family-run businesses the power to face competition and threats of depletion from corporate brands with huge online selling investment capacity.
Being a class 12 graduate, I use UPI to pay and collect money with credibility. ONDC network is one such transparent, credible system for small businesses to go online. We onboarded ONDC network as a seller, the first in the city with the help of Gofrugal ERP. We’re eagerly looking forward to the launch of ONDC network. Our customers, business, staff and beloved farmers will reap healthy benefits from this.
Aruna Supermarket
The Disturbing Cause:
Handling the 4th generation of the wholesale jaggery business, I realized it was leading to a deficit due to monopoly from bigger brands. So I decided to explore my chances in the grocery business. 15 years ago, Chennai was similar to Tirunelveli, with only local Kirana stores and hardly any grocery store. But things had changed in Chennai by 2015. And I wanted to offer the same comfort, freedom to shop, and experience in Tirunelveli.
What did I do?
In 2017, I opened my first grocery store ‘Aruna supermarket,’ one of the first such stores in Tirunelveli. Later in 2021, I opened my second grocery store because of its success. Eventually, I want to open more stores in Tirunelveli within 5 years!
The Challenge:
However, corporate retail brands were establishing their outlets in Tirunelveli shortly. And the lack of visibility, online and offline competition became an everyday challenge. The fear of losing again to the major players invaded us.
That’s when ONDC network came to the rescue. Now, we are confident to face online competition and deliver without hassles. Every customer knows Aruna supermarket for its perfect last-mile delivery. With ONDC network, I’ve already opened a new store in every smartphone in Tirunelveli. This has hastened my dream of opening new stores within 5 years.
We joined ONDC network as a seller with Gofrugal ERP. I want to not give in to the competition from major players. I want to sustain in the market, and increase my grocery store’s presence all over Tirunelveli. ONDC network has made this possible. Delivering orders daily, and increasing my online presence, is like enjoying the sweetness of palm jaggery over regular sugar. It is sweet, healthy, and sustainable!
ONDC network launched in Bengaluru on the 30th of September this year. Hotfooting its expansion, ONDC network is soon set to launch in the other pilot cities. As the front-running fully ONDC protocol compliant ERP seller platform, Gofrugal has successfully embarked on 30+ customers in Bengaluru. This journey has been fulfilling for us. We saw our customers who could not afford an online selling space realize their aspirations in our potential.
We’d want every business in our vicinity to garner from this revolutionary platform. And prevent you from being a link in the spreading chain. Vaccinate yourself against this fee fever with ONDC network. Unmask your business from intermediaries and serve your customers with confidence! You can be the next online seller success story without being exposed to the fever!