Amazon is the best MSME enabler, but ONDC still has a long way to go.
American e-commerce giant Amazon will emerge as the strongest enabler to the Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), while Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC) has a long way to go, according to a report by InGovern Research, a proxy advisory firm. Further, exports through e-commerce would be the next big leap for the MSME sector, the report added.“We predict that Amazon will emerge as the strongest enabler to MSMEs due to its scale, while ONDC continues to take tiny steps, it must go a long way to compete with marketplaces like Amazon. Global Selling is the next big leap for Indian MSME e-commerce sellers,” the report said.
Under its India’s Global Selling programme, Amazon is targeting to enable $20 billion in cumulative exports by 2025, with apparel, toys, jewellery and home being the top export categories. The cumulative exports by Indian exporters under the programme are expected to cross $5 billion, while Amazon estimates $125 billion worth of Indian exports being driven by e-commerce by 2030.There are more than 100,000 Indian exporters selling through Amazon Global Selling, it added.Though ONDC is being used for local e-commerce to compete against Amazon and Flipkart, it can be foreseen that ONDC may soon facilitate global exports.
ONDC will enable local commerce across various segments such as mobility, food order, hotel booking and travel among others, and it aims to create new opportunities, curb digital monopolies, support MSMEs and small traders and help them get on online platforms, the report added.For India to achieve a $5-trillion economy, it requires about $1 trillion in merchandise exports, a large rise from current levels.IT industry body Nasscom had estimated that the share of current online-led exports in total exports from the country to increase 45 times by 2030.
“Indian exporters, largely MSMEs, must grab the opportunity when the global buyers are looking up to India to execute their China plus one strategy and de-risking their China reliance. To this effort, global ecommerce platforms like Amazon and Walmart/Flipkart can be allies of Indian exporters,” it added.According to a road map by Walmart for local sellers with export ambitions, the firm intends to expand its sourcing from India to $10 billion a year by 2027.India’s merchandise exports have registered the highest-ever annual exports of $447.46 billion with a 6.03% growth in FY23, surpassing the previous year’s (FY22) record exports of $422 billion.
The country is also eyeing to achieve an export target of $2 trillion by 2027.
