Indian e-commerce company magicpin has announced an investment of Rs1bn ($11.9m) to onboard more than 100,000 new restaurants and cloud kitchens onto the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform.
ONDC is a government initiative designed to enhance online shopping in India by making digital commerce more equitable, convenient and innovative.
The onboarding process will be executed in August, September and October 2024.
The investment will be directed towards providing incentives for new partners, including zero commission rates, no onboarding fees and complimentary home delivery services for customers, the Press Trust of India has reported.
magicpin Enterprise Brands chief experience officer Naman Mawandia was quoted by the news agency as saying: “Our goal is to provide a risk-free entry to promote the participation of food merchants and restaurants in the digital economy by eliminating entry barriers such as high commissions and onboarding fees, and committing Rs1bn towards this initiative.”
“We aim to not only accelerate the adoption of online food delivery among diverse restaurant partners, thereby benefiting the overall ONDC ecosystem, but also see these opportunities turning into cost benefits for the end consumers.”
Magicpin, a seller app on ONDC, aims to strengthen its food tech vertical through this initiative.
The move will also enhance the company's position within the food delivery sector and compete with established platforms such as Swiggy and Zomato.
ONDC managing director and CEO T Koshy said: “ONDC's mission is to democratise digital commerce. magicpin's investments towards onboarding more local merchants on ONDC helps India be a more inclusive digital economy.
The company recently introduced a self-onboarding tool that simplifies the process for restaurants and small to medium-food delivery merchants, allowing them to join ONDC in under five minutes.
The ONDC platform garnered attention during the Cricket World Cup when its food delivery orders were claimed to have peaked at 50,000 during the India-Australia match in November 2023.
The latest development comes after Tata Group’s digital arm, Tata Digital, announced plans to enhance its Tata Neu food delivery app by integrating it with the ONDC.
