How to choose an ONDC seller platform for B2B: 12 questions to ask before you sign
Most ONDC seller apps were built for consumer webstores. If you want to sell to kiranas on DigiDukaan, these are the twelve questions that separate a real eB2B platform from a B2C store with a B2B label.
On ONDC you don't join a marketplace — you join through a seller network participant, the platform that holds your catalogue, answers the network's messages and processes your orders. That choice decides how much of the network you can actually use.
Most seller apps were built for one job: putting a consumer webstore on ONDC. Selling to kiranas on DigiDukaan is a different job. Here are the questions that tell the difference.
Trade and pricing
1. Can I run more than one trade price list?
Distribution has A/B/C retailer classes. If the platform has one selling price per product, you will either overcharge your best retailers or undercharge everyone else.
2. Does a known retailer get their own price at checkout?
The network identifies an existing retailer at the select step. Your platform should quote that retailer's list, not the public default.
3. Can I set an MOQ per SKU, and does the network enforce it?
If the answer is "add it to the description", the answer is no.
4. Which of the eight offer types are supported — and does it know which are priced?
Discount, BXGY, freebie, slab, combo, delivery, exchange, financing. Ask how a freebie is valued in effective-cost ranking. (Our schemes guide explains why it matters.)
5. Can existing retailers keep their credit terms and distributor?
DigiDukaan should digitise your distributor relationships, not go around them. Ask whether retailers can be mapped to the distributor that serves them.
Orders and operations
6. Is the order management built in, or a third-party OMS?
Many seller apps hand order processing to a separately licensed OMS. That is another login, another subscription and another stock sync — and when an ONDC order and an Amazon order fight over the same last unit, two systems disagree about who wins.
7. Will it reuse the catalogue and stock I already have on marketplaces?
A second catalogue is a second source of truth. One stock pool across ONDC, marketplaces and quick commerce is the only way not to oversell.
8. Can I ship on my own courier?
Your Delhivery or Shiprocket account at your rates, or an AWB you booked yourself — not just the platform's logistics partner.
9. What happens on a return, a part-cancel or an RTO?
Ask to see it. Reverse pickup booked, good stock restocked, refund trail kept. And ask how complaints raised through the network's IGM protocol reach you.
Money and trust
10. Is the pricing published?
If you have to ask sales what it costs to list, ask why. Also ask how the buyer app's commission is shown — per line on the order, frozen at checkout, is the honest answer.
11. How is my payout account verified, and can I see settlement per order?
On ONDC the buyer app collects and settles to you later. A penny-drop verified account and a per-order money position are the minimum.
12. Do I control when I'm published?
Connecting to a platform and agreeing to appear on the network are different decisions. Your consent should be explicit, recorded and revocable.
A note on government incentives
The MSME Ministry's ₹277 crore TEAM initiative supports small sellers joining ONDC, with support routed through seller network participants rather than paid to sellers directly, and a scheme period that runs to 2027. Ask your platform whether you qualify and what it passes on. Incentive terms change, so check the official page rather than a sales deck.
The short version
If a platform can't answer questions 1–6 with a demo, it is a consumer store with a B2B label. That may be fine for retail. It won't get you onto kirana shelves.
Get our answers to all 12 — for your catalogue
Tell us what you sell and where. We'll answer every question on this list against your catalogue, cities and channels, in writing, within one business day.