Reliance Retail launches ONDC pilot through its retail platform Fynd

With more than 15,000 pin codes under its service, Fynd debuted its selling app on ONDC in February 2023 and plans to release its buyer app in the second quarter of 2025.

Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) has initiated a pilot programme on the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) via Fynd, an omnichannel retail platform in which Reliance holds a stake. This pilot features one Reliance Retail store, Shri Kannan Departmental Store in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, which was acquired by Reliance Retail in December 2021 for Rs 152.5 crore.

Reliance’s quick-commerce subsidiary, Dunzo, went live on ONDC during its beta launch in Bengaluru in September 2022 but has been inactive as a logistics service provider since April 2023. Fynd, currently servicing over 15,000 pin codes, launched its seller app on ONDC in February 2023 and plans to launch its buyer app in the second quarter of 2025. If RRVL fully participates in ONDC, it could significantly boost the network’s consumer adoption.

For the financial year 2023-24, Reliance Retail reported a turnover of Rs 306,786 crore. As of March 31, 2024, it operated 18,836 stores with over 1.06 billion footfalls, 304 million registered customers, and nearly 1.26 billion transactions. The company operates in sectors such as grocery, consumer electronics, fashion and lifestyle, and pharma under various brands.

Since its formal launch in January 2022, ONDC has facilitated 57 million transactions by the end of April 2023. Mobility services, led by ride-hailing apps like Namma Yatri, account for nearly 50% of total monthly orders, with over 32.2 million mobility orders and 17.5 million non-mobility orders recorded between February 2022 and March 2023. Companies and platforms onboarded on ONDC include Wow Momo, McDonald’s, Domino’s Pizza in food and beverage; Marico, P&G, and Hindustan Unilever in FMCG; and Namma Yatri, Kochi Open Mobility Network, and Ola in mobility.