NEWS

ONDC Partners Google Cloud To Boost Ecommerce Using Generative AI

Neeraj Singh

Sep 08,2023
3 min read
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Google Cloud’s Duet AI-powered ONDC seller app will allow businesses to generate images, descriptions, and more with just a few clicks to improve the visibility of their products. What makes this unique is the fact that a seller can input context in one language, which will then be automatically translated to English using Google’s AI, and depending on the buyer’s requirements, the same information will be translated into another language.

Last month, the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) reported that the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) platform recorded a new milestone of 1000 crore monthly digital cash transactions for the first time since its launch in 2016.

As NCPI sets a new target of 100 crore daily transactions, another indigenous-developed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which is just over a year old, is bringing a new revolution in the e-commerce segment.

As it competes with giants such as Amazon, Walmart's Flipkart, Zomato, and Swiggy, ONDC is all set to get the booster dose of Google's generative AI (AI).

Hackathon

The hackathon intends to develop solutions that democratise access to digital commerce, regardless of digital literacy, geography, or economic status, a joint statement said.

“This hackathon will serve as an ideal launchpad, enabling us to discover numerous gifted individuals and organisations with inventive concepts. This, in turn, propels the drive for innovation for Bharat by solving countless pressing challenges faced by merchants and consumers both in metro cities and smaller towns,” ONDC MD and CEO T Koshy said.

The hackathon will span three months and will offer mentoring and assistance to participants working to solve ecommerce challenges such as building better supply chain visibility, improving inventory management, creating targeted personalisation for consumers, among others.

Technical Planning

As part of this partnership, they will launch a nationwide ‘Build for Bharat’ hackathon to foster an open ecosystem of developers, students, and startups to drive innovation within the ONDC framework.

Earlier in June also, ONDC and Google Cloud teamed up to launch an open sourced ONDC Open Commerce solution to help users and buyers onboard the ONDC platform seamlessly. The programme has been leveraged by 20 ecommerce companies as of now.

Technical Functionality

As the next step to the strategic partnership, the two will enable buyers and sellers of all sizes across the country to use Google Cloud’s generative AI tools for seamless transactions. The AI powered tools will offer features like voice commands, product descriptions and image improvement, automatic translation of catalogues in local languages, among others.

India is seeing a generative AI boom since the launch of Open AI’s ChatGPT. Last week, Google also announced that it would add its generative AI capabilities to ‘Search’ in India.

Conclusion

The gen AI-powered ONDC app was able to allow Kanchipuram saree seller Jyothi to easily upload a photo of the product and the platform was able to instantly suggest smart attributes based on what most buyers look for in saree. And, users can add their own words to further elaborate their product for easy understanding.