ONDC and Meta Launch Collaboration for Indian Small Businesses

By siliconindia  |  Tuesday, 19 December 2023, 03:59:01 PM IST

ONDC and Meta Launch Collaboration for Indian Small Businesses
ONDC and Meta have joined forces to empower small businesses in India, facilitating the creation of smooth conversational interactions between buyers and sellers on WhatsApp. This collaboration leverages Meta's network of business and technical solution providers. Concurrently, ONDC will assist these solution providers in transforming into seller apps, integrating the businesses they support into the ONDC Network and enhancing their ability to boost commerce.
Commencing the collaboration, the Meta Small Business Academy aims to digitally upskill 500,000 MSMEs over the next two years. T Koshy, the Managing Director and CEO of ONDC, emphasized that the partnership with Meta will not only enhance the digital capabilities of these businesses but will also facilitate broader connections with a diverse customer base.
"We are confident that our collaborative efforts will pave the way for millions of small businesses by providing them with the right impetus for growth", he added. As per its commitment to upskill 10 million small businesses across the country, Meta Small Business Academy offers a certification to empower entrepreneurs and marketers to gain critical digital marketing skills to grow on the Meta apps.
Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President at Meta in India, expressed that the digital transformation in India is evolving rapidly. She highlighted that the collaboration with ONDC aligns with the government's vision for Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and reinforces Meta's continuous dedication to empowering small businesses through skill development. This partnership aims to contribute to the swift digital transformation and growth unfolding in the country.
As part of the partnership, Meta will also support Sahayak, ONDC’s WhatsApp chatbot, in enhancing the services offered on the bot as the single point of seller communication and customer communication for ONDC. Earlier this year, Meta launched the ‘WhatsApp Se Wyapaar programme to upskill 10 million traders across 29 states in 11 Indian languages on the WhatsApp Business app. Today, there are more than 200 million users of the WhatsApp Business app across the world, and more than 60 percent of people on WhatsApp in India message a business account.

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