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The most prominent food applications on the phones of Indians are probably Swiggy and Zomato. However, now Flipkart is also entering the business to deliver your favourite meal to your doorstep. According to recent reports, the e-commerce platform is planning to enter the food and beverage business on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
Soon, Flipkart users won’t only be able to order home accessories, apparel, and appliances but also food. It will be exciting to see a new platform competing with the biggest food aggregators in the industry, but the introduction of the new platform is likely to benefit users.
Restaurants On-Board With Flipkart
Since Flipkart is still planning the route to enter the F&B industry, it is yet not clear which restaurants are on board. However, an exclusive report by ET states that the platform is going to enter the market with promising prices. Inc42 also reported that users will be able to order food from a wide range of restaurants, including MNC chains like McDonald’s and Domino’s.
Reportedly, advanced stages of integration were completed in February 2024, however, Flipkart has not made its food-ordering cart active yet. Primarily, the platform will operate on the buyer side of the ONDC to allow users to order food while shopping for apparel and other fashionable items. This will help them make their F&B business more cost-effective. They will neither pursue restaurants to sell on Flipkart nor hire delivery executives.
According to April 2024 reports, the government asked Amazon and Flipkart to establish ONDC storefronts on the home pages of their websites. They want to elevate the network operations, address delay delivery issues, and support deliveries.
What Is ONDC?
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), ONDC was launched in 2021 to amplify local commerce across all sectors, including grocery and mobility. Since its establishment, many companies and startups have joined its network to promote their business and elevate their business operations.
It is not just Flipkart or Amazon that are benefiting from it, but April 2024 reports indicate that Ola also developed a feature allowing users to get apparel, fashion accessories, and groceries delivered to their doorstep. PhonePe also introduced food delivery and ticket booking services via ONDC. Many business tycoons, including Reliance Industries and Adani groups, are also exploring how they can scale their business by integrating their services with ONDC.
