Tech giant Meta has announced a partnership with government-backed ecommerce network Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to upskill small businesses and leverage Meta’s business and technical solution providers for seamless conversational buyer and seller experiences on Whatsapp. The partnership aims to support around five lakh small businesses to get trained on the Meta Small Business Academy over the next two years. ONDC will help the businesses become seller apps and onboard onto their network.
The Meta Small Business Academy offers certification for entrepreneurs and marketers to gain digital marketing skills to grow on the Meta apps, which include Whatsapp, Facebook, and Instagram. Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President of Meta India, stated, “We will be supporting around five lakh small businesses to get trained on the Meta Small Business Academy over the next two years.”
As part of the partnership, Meta will also enhance the services offered on the ONDC’s seller support Whatsapp chatbot Sahayak.
ONDC MD and CEO T Koshy highlighted that large enterprises have the engineering skills to help small businesses build on their capabilities and compete on an equal footing. Koshy stated, “Wherever the technological powers can come and make the participants in the open network have more and more equal opportunity, both as a seller as well as the seller platform, our interests align.” He also emphasized that digital commerce is not just about technology but also about processes.
Sandhya Devanathan stressed the importance of enabling small businesses to know about the existence of the network and how they can connect to it. She mentioned that these are only the ‘first steps’ in the partnership between Meta and ONDC and they are already thinking about what comes next. She added, “I don’t see this as a static partnership. I do see us doing much more and I thought the work that we’ve done is the first step. We’re already thinking about what we do next.” She also stated that there is space for both small hyperlocal businesses and large pan-India enterprises on Whatsapp.
In conclusion, the partnership between Meta and ONDC aims to upskill small businesses and empower them to take advantage of digital commerce opportunities. The Meta Small Business Academy will provide certification and digital marketing skills to entrepreneurs and marketers. With the support of ONDC, small businesses can become seller apps and join the network. The partnership also focuses on enhancing the services offered on ONDC’s seller support Whatsapp chatbot Sahayak. This collaboration highlights the importance of technology and processes in digital commerce and aims to create equal opportunities for all participants in the open network.
