ONDC and Meta have partnered to help small businesses unleash the power of digital commerce, supporting and educating small businesses to create seamless conversational buyer and seller experiences on WhatsApp through Meta’s ecosystem of business and technology solution providers. At the same time, ONDC will help these business solution providers become seller applications, introduce the enterprises they serve into the ONDC network and help them promote business development.
To kick off this partnership, 500,000 MSMEs will also gain digital skills through the Meta Small Business Academy over the next two years. Born out of Meta’s commitment to upskilling the nation’s 10 million small businesses, the Meta Small Business Academy provides certifications to help entrepreneurs and marketers gain critical digital marketing skills to grow on the Meta app.
T Koshy, Managing Director and CEO, ONDC, said: “At ONDC, we are committed to accelerating and democratizing digitalization and to this end, we aim to empower MSMEs, help them build digital visibility and promote their business development. Today, for any business to grow, it is crucial to market themselves and reach a wider audience. Our partnership with Meta will not only enhance the digital skills of these businesses, but also enable them to connect with a broad customer base Connect. We believe our collaborative efforts will pave the way for millions of small businesses and give them the right fuel for growth.”
Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President, Meta India, added: “India’s digital transformation story is unfolding at a revolutionary pace, and for this growth to continue, we need the right ecosystems and partnerships to empower millions of small businesses. Enterprises can build and deepen their digital transformation.” Meta has been a frontrunner in partnering with government and industry to drive digital inclusion, especially MSMEs across India. Our partnership with ONDC builds on supporting the government’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) vision and furthers our ongoing commitment to skilling small businesses and helping the country’s rapid digital transformation and growth. “
As part of the partnership, Meta will also support ONDC’s WhatApp chatbot Sahayak, enhancing the services provided by the bot as ONDC’s single point of communication for sellers and customers.
Earlier this year, Meta launched the ‘WhatsApp Se Wyapaar’ initiative to upskill 10 million traders across 29 states through the WhatsApp Business app in 11 Indian languages. Today, the WhatsApp Business app has more than 200 million users worldwide, and more than 60% of users on WhatsApp in India send messages to business accounts.
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