The ONDC Canon
Commerce is as old as civilization itself and throughout the course of history, it has evolved with the progress of time and technology. And yet for the better part of the last few decades, the landscape and business models of the commerce world have stayed the same, until now.
India has embarked on an ambitious mission to reimagine the trillion-dollar+ commerce market from the ground up with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
The scale and intricacies of such a project can be intimidating for anyone to understand and keep up with so we have prepared this ONDC Canon to help understand, comprehend, and participate in what we believe to the next stage in the evolution of commerce.
Created in collaboration with the ONDC team, this canon is a continually updated resource that contains links, files, and other material helpful to anyone and everyone learning about ONDC.
Basics and Building Blocks
Learn about the basics of what ONDC is and more importantly what it isn’t. These resources are for anyone and everyone who has little to no understanding of how ONDC works.
Watch: What is ONDC? | Nuts and Bolts | Forbes India
In Hindi: ONDC – The Next Big E-commerce Revolution?
Read
ONDC explained with a comic: What better way to explain a complex idea than through the medium of comics? This short story is one of the most approachable explanations of ONDC we have seen. The ONDC knowledge resource also has the comic in multiple languages.
The Next UPI: What is ONDC, India's Open Network for Digital Commerce?: This 4-minute explainer is a short primer about ONDC by Viraj Gaur of the Quint. It has clear sections that answer some of the very first questions that come to one’s mind when they learn about ONDC.
Dive Deeper
Unpacking the ONDC opportunity: As VCs, it is in our interest to understand from first principles, the technological movements that could shape the future of our world. And that’s why we wrote and produced one of the first deep dive articles and videos on ONDC from the perspective of a novice.
First principles understanding of Digital Public Goods with Pramod Verma: If you are really interested in understanding not just ONDC but its technological predecessors like Aadhaar, UPI, and other Digital Public Goods, we encourage you to watch this walkthrough by Pramod Verma ex-Chief Architect of Aadhaar, UPI & India Stack.
The original strategy paper: The original strategy paper was in many ways the first real starting point of the ONDC movement. In the paper, you will learn a lot about the core motivations behind ONDC and how much (or little) the core principles and philosophy of ONDC have changed.
ONDC and the Next Digital Commerce Evolution: We love this early explainer by 3one4 Capital on ONDC from the perspective of platforms and protocols with notes from one of its earliest meetings.
How India Shops Online 2021 | Bain & Company: A complete understanding of ONDC is incomplete without knowledge of Indian commerce itself. This Bain report is one of the more comprehensive reports on Indian commerce and what is keeping different sectors from being digitalized.
ONDC deep dives for founders and investors
💡 If you already have a fundamental grasp of what ONDC is and you are interested in delving deeper into the specifics of how ONDC could change particular sectors, the resources below will help you gain a more nuanced sector-specific understanding.
The need for a protocol approach to commerce: Sattva Institute’s report is one of the first publications to explore how ONDC could change certain use cases and sectors such as kirana stores and independent sellers of organic goods.
Democratising Digital Commerce In India: McKinsey does an excellent job of taking a first principles approach to envisioning how ONDC will change commerce sector by sector.
ONDC: Disruption or Evolution? What stands out in the JM Financial report is a clear comparison and contrast of ONDC against the current e-commerce options.
Beyond-E-Commerce-3.0: Kaalari Capital’s perspective on the evolution of commerce is an excellent top-down report on the larger currents of change in commerce and the role ONDC will play in this.
Key definitions and terms: If you are serious about getting on ONDC or investing in startups that are part of the network then it pays to understand the terms that are used in the protocol.
Commercial models of ONDC: This official doc contains answers to important questions such as the various fees and possible revenue streams for network participants.
Dive into the protocol on which ONDC is built, the Beckn Protocol
Tech deep dive
ONDC - Tech: An official walkthrough and technical overview of the ONDC network, helpful for anyone looking at how the network operates under the hood.
How ONDC aims to build trust in the network: One of the most frequent questions about ONDC is how will it guarantee the quality of service that current e-commerce platforms provide, especially when it comes to returns and refunds. This document by ONDC gives the reader a comprehensive outlook on how an open network can ensure trust and compliance.
Take a look at the Network Participants already live on ONDC: Network Participants on ONDC
We made an effort to build a landscape that is as comprehensive as possible. In case, we have missed out on any Network Participant that is LIVE on ONDC, please ping us at Reetik.Agarwal@Antler.co.
4. Ready to start on ONDC? - Fill out this Network participant application form to integrate to being your integration journey with ONDC.
5. ONDC Academy: The ONDC Academy is the official YouTube channel that has resources to help network participants with specific ONDC-related tutorials and FAQs.
Becoming a seller on ONDC
A one-stop resource on becoming a seller on ONDC.
In Hindi
Participate in the ONDC Community
Finally, ONDC is an open network which means that a community is at the heart of the evolution of the network. Feel free to join the ONDC team and/or become a part of the Beckn Community building the protocols that power ONDC.
Build on ONDC Community (Powered by Antler & Beckn Protocol): Join a community of builders, operators, and investors exclusively focused on ONDC.
Sign up to build ONDC: Sabbatical Program
If you’d like to share your learnings about ONDC and get in touch with us to build and scale your next venture on ONDC get in touch with us at Reetik.Agarwal@Antler.co
