ONDC and WinZO collaborate to boost di gital commerce in India

Mumbai, 17th May 2024: In a move aimed at democratizing access to digital commerce and fostering transparent and fair market access, WinZO is collaborating with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). This collaboration will leverage WinZO’s extensive user base of over 175 million users, primarily accessing the internet in vernacular languages. WinZO is India’s first skill gaming company to collaborate with ONDC.

WinZO is the largest interactive entertainment platform in India. The company partners with third-party developers to host games on their app, providing users with personalized multiplayer gameplay experiences in 12 languages. The WinZO platform facilitates over 4 billion micro-transactions per month across a portfolio of 100+ games and accounts for at least one out of every 300 UPI transactions in India, representing one of the highest volumes of UPI transactions driven by digital content players in India. WinZO is renowned for its unique user demographic, primarily hailing from Tier II-V cities of Bharat, characterized by high-frequency, low-value transactions or microtransactions. This makes it an organic partner for ONDC to reach the deepest corners of the country. Remarkably, over 20% of players on WinZO make their first-ever digital payment on the platform, thus connecting to the digital grid.

As a business model, WinZO connects game developers with paying users, generating revenue higher than alternative sources such as advertisements and in-app purchases prevalent on Play Stores and App Stores. ONDC’s transparent, competitive, and open-market philosophy aligns with WinZO’s broader vision.

WinZO Store, India’s pioneering alternative to monopolistic multinational app stores, offers ONDC a remarkable opportunity to help digital businesses enhance revenue generation and reach a broader market. ONDC, which encompasses a network for grocery and food delivery, mobility, fashion, agri-products, and health and wellness, will list its services on the WinZO store, providing access to WinZO’s growing 175 million users.

WinZO Store charges a single-digit commission compared to the 30% of other leading distribution platforms. By significantly reducing commission rates compared to conventional app stores, WinZO Store empowers digital businesses to enjoy improved profit margins, creates value for end-users, and provides businesses access to expanded distribution channels. Already, over 300 digital companies have experienced unprecedented revenue growth through this revolutionary platform.

WinZO has also emerged as a more trustworthy and transparent alternative for multinational gaming studios to list and distribute in-app gaming assets through its WinZO Store, thereby facilitating value creation for developers and users. Integrating with WinZO Store aligns perfectly with ONDC’s mission to empower businesses and foster innovation within India’s digital landscape while eradicating power concentration in the hands of a few monopolistic influential players.

“We’re super excited and delighted in welcoming WinZO to the ONDC network to advance our mission of empowering local homegrown start-ups,” said T Koshy, CEO of ONDC. “Together, we aim to revolutionize the digital commerce industry, fostering a vibrant ecosystem where Indian talent and innovation takes center stage. Our collaboration will help the growth of local commerce and showcase the immense potential of India’s digital landscape.”

“Our aim is to onboard diverse businesses and establish a public digital infrastructure akin to UPI, uniquely crafted for India. We’re thrilled to see WinZO seamlessly integrated into this network, opening new avenues for engagement and innovation. Partnering with WinZO will enable ONDC to reach a wider user base, even in the remotest parts of the country, and create awareness about its importance in the rapidly growing tech-enabled commerce in Bharat. This will prove to be a massive push for adopting ONDC,” said Sanjeev Singh, Joint Secretary of DPIIT.

“In the digital age, democratizing innovation is key to unlocking the potential of tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. Just as UPI revolutionized payments in 2018 and gave birth to companies like ours to emerge and scale across 175 million gamers. With the integration of WinZO and ONDC, we envision a future where many more WinZOs will emerge and innovate on top of this fertile layer of digital commerce that’s being built today through this partnership,” said Paavan Nanda, Co-founder of WinZO. 

With a vision to democratise and decentralize innovation and fresh wave of new companies emerge for example in 2018 when payments were democratised with UPI. WinZO on the back of UPI reached 175 million users and we are very happy and excited and hopeful that integration of WinZO and ONDC will lead to many more WinZO’s of tomorrow. Democratisation of entrepreneurship and employment.

The inclusion of WinZO will help ONDC acquire new and unique users of online gaming to expand its digital commerce journey. As the first skill-based interactive entertainment company to partner with ONDC, WinZO is pioneering a new era of innovation and accessibility in digital commerce. In line with the government’s mission of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat,’ WinZO is also featured on mSeva, the government-owned mobile app store, further solidifying its commitment to supporting India’s digital transformation journey.