Google Could Give Tipping Point to India’s Open Commerce Digital Network

Bit by bit, in India, the open network gains adherents, with Amazon firmly in the crosshairs.

And it might be the case that at  least a few other nations follow suit, should India’s government-backed grand eCommerce shift take root.

Especially if Google opens the open network with critical mass, chiefly through the tailwinds of software and payments functionality.

We contend that Google can indeed provide that critical mass, considering the fact that, per Statista, Android has nearly 96% market share in India.

In the connected economy — choose your country — it is the device, after all, coupled with digital wallets, that brings consumers fully onboard to buy pretty much anything from anyone.

As noted in this space in recent months, India’s open network for digital commerce (ONDC), represents a government-backed effort to push back on the dominance of U.S.-based eCommerce giants such as Amazon and Walmart.

Read also: India Launches Digital Marketplace to Compete With Amazon, Walmart’s Flipkart

Platforms and Payments 

In terms of the mechanics, there’s a cross-functionality that should appeal to merchants and consumers alike — and that can, in essence, tighten those stakeholders’ relationship so that they’d crowd out Walmart and Amazon.  That’s because buyers and sellers will be able to connect and transact with one another regardless of app – with particular emphasis on smaller businesses. Any app that is registered with the network will see several products from several sellers at once.

Reuters reports that the open network has already been seeing an influx of banks, which are examining the idea and execution of “buyer” platforms to help facilitate trade.

And against that backdrop comes the news that the platform wants to see 900 million buyers and sellers in place through the next five years.

There are any number of new entrants intent on gaining (more than) a foothold in India.

As noted earlier in this year, companies like GlobalBees, which develops brands across channels have been finding opportunity in a country with 1.3 billion consumers.

The news that Google is mulling joining the network would bring its shopping services to a broader audience, which squares up with Google’s own commerce ambitions. That push would come as Google moves ever further afield from search.

In recent interviews with Karen Webster, Bill Ready, president of Commerce at Google, told Karen Webster that making digital credentialing more secure across the free and open web would boost omnichannel interactions.

Last month Google debuted its new Google Wallet, initially available on Android. And it operates, essentially, as a store available in 40 countries that will standardize how consumers access everything from payment cards, digital tickets and even vaccine cards. Ready noted that tethering the wallet to GPay will be a game-changer, especially at the physical point of checkout — through push button commerce

The push toward distributed commerce can get a lift, we note, from the tokenized credentials that are tied to individual users, and the authentication that is enabled at the point of sale.

Google’s leap onto the open network, then, could be a game-changer.

Read more: Google’s Bill Ready: Virtual Cards, New Wallet Create Passports, Pathways for Push Button Commerce