Grab.in, an unit of Reliance Retail (owning approximately 80% of the company), has connected its platform with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) network. After Dunzo, the initiative brings another firm owned by Reliance Retail onto the open network. Prior to joining the network in May 2022, the fast commerce company Dunzo started a trial testing in 6 Indian cities.
Grab’s arrival signals Reliance’s official debut into the highly anticipated network, which was positioned as a game – changer to end the dominance of Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon India by putting informal businesses online. According to Grab.in cofounder Pratish Sanghvi, intracity hyperlocal deliveries will be helped by the company.
“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,” Sanghvi stated.
Grab A Grub Services (‘Grab’) was purchased by the investment group of Reliance Industries in March 2019 for $14.9 million (INR 106 crore) in cash. Currently, Reliance Retail, who owns about 80% of the business, is the parent organization of Grab. In addition to restaurants, web supermarkets, offline and online retailers, Grab also caters to e-commerce platforms, kirana stores, and pharmaceuticals, Grab.in was founded in 2014. The 9 year old firm serves customers like FedEx, Grofers, Paytm, BigBasket, Myntra, Amazon, and Swiggy with services like on-demand, reverse deliveries, and first- and last-mile logistics.
By the end of August, ONDC hopes to have 100 cities operational. In June, the company’s chief executive announced that over 150 applications would soon be connected with the platform and that a number of parties on both the purchaser and seller sides of the transaction were intending to join the ONDC. Delivery of orders placed on the network would depend on the ONDC’s integration of third-party logistics operators. Onboarding retailers, logistics operators, and other stakeholders onto the network is a top priority for ONDC executives in order to facilitate more transactions across the nation.
In an interview to the financial express earlier, T Koshy, the CEO and MD of ONDC had said, “Entities like banks, fintechs and telcos have digital consumers who can come together as a common pool of buyers and be exposed to thousands of sellers. So, for instance, Airtel can provide a service to its customers by giving them digital access to become e-customers. They may or may not earn anything but would want to give their customers the best experience or else customers may go elsewhere. Whichever buyer’s app a customer is on, he can shop from the same set of sellers.”