Vocal for local: Online commerce unicorn Meesho joins ONDC to help local sellers

• Meesho has more than 8 lakh registered sellers, with 40% of them out Level II cities and beyond.
  
• Meesho’s integration with ONDC is expected to create a broader market for hyperlocal suppliers.
  
• Tier II cities contributed 54% to the gross commercial value of holiday sales this year.
  

Meesho, an e-commerce unicorn in India mainly targeting Tier II cities, has joined the Open Network for Digital trading (ONDC) initiative. This will help buyers connect with hyper-local sellers in creating an inclusive e-commerce ecosystem in the country.

To create a more level playing field for small and medium-sized enterprises in India, the Ministry of Trade and Industry launched the ONDC portal last year. The pilot was available to sellers in five cities: Delhi, BengaluruCoimbatore, Bhopal and Shillong, according to PTI reports.

ONDC is an open network portal that helps micro-enterprises gain more visibility compared to e-commerce giants such as Amazon and flip kart. E-commerce startup Meesho’s integration with ONDC is expected to boost product findability for consumers while creating a broader market for hyperlocal suppliers.

“With a shared goal of empowering small sellers and boosting hyper-local businesses, the integration will accelerate our efforts to democratize online commerce for all. ONDC will also play an important role in expanding India’s e-commerce sector by bringing more consumers online. We have been working closely with ONDC to ensure the integration runs smoothly and the user experience remains seamless,” said the spokesperson Check out Aatreyfounder and CEO of Meesho.

The pilot phase of Meesho’s integration with ONDC will be launched in Bangalore first and gradually rolled out to other locations over the coming months.

Meesho’s adoption of ONDC is a reflection of the increasing demand in Tier II cities combined with an increase in the number of retailers from these cities. According to a report from Redseer, holiday sales become a Tier II phenomenon with 64% of shoppers coming from these cities. The cities also contributed 54% of the gross trade value during the festive sales this year.

With the growing importance of social e-commerce, unicorn Meesho was the second largest contributor to order volume during the first week of festive sales in September, with the majority of sales coming from Tier II and Tier III cities.

Meesho says 80% of its 14 crore annual transaction clients are from Tier II cities. The company also currently has more than 8 lakh sellers registered on the platform, 40% of which are from Tier II cities and beyond.

“At ONDC, we want to create an open e-commerce ecosystem that is accessible to everyone. We are excited to have Meesho on board as his deep capabilities in small towns will kick start the flywheel of the network and bring ONDC closer to our goals. E-commerce is still small in India and new-age platforms like Meesho will be strong network participants for ONDC on this journey,” said T Koshy, CEO of ONDC.

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