(MENAFN- KNN India) New Delhi, Dec 20 (KNN) Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with social media giant Meta on Tuesday, in a strategic partnership aimed at empowering 500,000 Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) over the next two years, propelling them onto the e-commerce stage.
This collaboration entails comprehensive capacity-building initiatives integrating social media skills, AI-enabled tools, and an open technology network architecture, levelling the playing field for MSMEs operating in the digital commerce landscape.
Thampy Koshy, CEO of ONDC, and Sandhya Devanathan, Vice-President of Meta India, shared their visions for supporting small businesses and their perspectives on the flourishing digital commerce domain in India
Koshy articulated ONDC's predominant vision to ensure equal opportunities for small enterprises in the digital realm, steering away from the dominance of a few major players.
He highlighted the ONDC protocol's role in unbundling business building blocks and fostering interoperability.
“While everyone has equal opportunities, they may not have equal capabilities. So ONDC is taking special efforts to help small and micro enterprises leverage the network. The collaboration with Meta will provide small businesses with tools, training, and capacity building so they can build on this network,” Koshy said.
In concurrence, Devanathan from Meta emphasised the organisation's commitment to skill-building for small businesses entering the network.
Through Meta's Small Business Academy, the company aims to train a substantial five million small businesses in digital marketing skills over the next two years to facilitate their growth, she added.
“We will also provide engineering support for business solutions providers to build seamless buyer-seller experiences on WhatsApp integrated with ONDC. Additionally, we are working with ONDC on their Sahayak chatbot for easy seller onboarding,” said Devanathan.
Devanathan highlighted how Meta's platforms-Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp-enable small businesses to experiment, iterate, and cost-effectively expand their audiences.
Generative AI, she added, will aid in creating customised ads and campaigns, allowing small businesses to concentrate on their core offerings.
ONDC's open network, democratising access, will empower small sellers to showcase their catalogues to a broader audience, with a specific focus on supporting women-led small businesses through skilling and enablement initiatives, said Devanathan.
Regarding observed trends in the Indian digital landscape, Devanathan underscored the unprecedented, sophisticated growth of the Indian internet through UPI and digital public infrastructure.
She also noted the rising number of creators expressing themselves on platforms and India's potential as a global leader in technology innovation.
Similarly, Koshy highlighted Indian entrepreneurs crafting home-grown, original solutions for national and global markets, emphasising the significance of leveraging ONDC and Meta's offerings for small businesses to reach wider customer bases.
(KNN Bureau)
MENAFN20122023000155011030ID1107634927
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.