ONDC vs Amazon: Who Will Win India’s E-commerce War in 2025?

A Complete Breakdown for Sellers, Consumers & Businesses**

India’s e-commerce space is going through the biggest shift in a decade. The traditional, closed-platform model led by Amazon and Flipkart is now being challenged by the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)—a government-backed initiative that aims to democratize online selling.

But the big question is:

Will ONDC really challenge Amazon’s dominance? Or will Amazon continue to rule with its strong logistics, brand trust, and customer base?

In this detailed 2025 analysis, we break down:

• How ONDC works
• Amazon’s advantages
• ONDC’s rapid growth
• Challenges for both
• Who is likely to dominate the next 5 years
• What this means for sellers and small businesses

Let’s begin.

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1. What Is ONDC—and Why Is It a Threat to Amazon?

ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) is a government-backed initiative designed to break the monopoly of big players by making online commerce open, interoperable, and accessible to all sellers.

Key Features of ONDC

• Any seller can join using any ONDC-compatible app
• No dominance of a single platform
• Lower commissions (2–8% compared to Amazon’s 25–35%)
• Buyers can purchase from multiple apps
• Sellers retain full customer data

Why Amazon Should Worry

ONDC allows every kirana store, D2C brand, reseller, and local outlet to sell online without depending on Amazon’s ecosystem.

This changes the power equation.

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2. Amazon’s Current Strengths (2025)

Despite ONDC’s rise, Amazon is still a giant with unmatched capabilities:

✔ Massive logistics infrastructure (Amazon Transportation Services)

Pickup, warehousing, fast shipping, and last-mile delivery give Amazon a huge edge.

✔ Trust & customer experience

Amazon’s return policies, customer service, and Prime delivery make it the first choice for many buyers.

✔ Prime ecosystem

Prime Video, Prime Music, and free delivery create a sticky user base.

✔ Global supply chain access

Sellers can do cross-border trade easily using Amazon Global Selling.

✔ Advanced advertising system

Amazon Ads remains a powerful tool for sellers to scale.

But here’s the catch:

Despite all the power, Amazon is losing popularity among small sellers due to high fees, ads dependency, and platform control. This is where ONDC is winning hearts.

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3. ONDC’s Explosive Growth in 2025

ONDC started slow, but in 2024–25, it grew 10x faster due to:

✔ Food delivery boost (via Paytm, Magicpin, Pincode)

Zomato/Swiggy alternatives boosted ONDC significantly.

✔ Entry of big brands

• Tata 1mg
• Vishal Mega Mart
• McDonald’s
• Paytm
• PhonePe (Pincode)
• Meesho
• PayNearby

✔ 100% transparency for sellers

Unlike Amazon, ONDC does not control visibility or product ranking.

✔ Lower commissions = Higher profits

This alone made lakhs of sellers join the platform.

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4. ONDC vs Amazon: Detailed Comparison (2025)

Feature	ONDC	Amazon
Commission	2–8%	25–35%
Customer Data	Seller owns the data	Data stays with Amazon
Delivery System	Partner-driven, improving	Highly advanced, fast
Returns	Varies by seller	Easy, but costly for sellers
Reach	Growing rapidly	Strong nationwide reach
Seller Control	High	Very low
Ease of Selling	Medium	Very easy (plug & play)
Competition	Low	Extremely high

Verdict:

• ONDC wins on pricing, seller control, and transparency
• Amazon wins on delivery, customer experience, and trust

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5. What Consumers Prefer in 2025

Why buyers choose ONDC

• Lower product prices
• Cheaper food delivery
• Open choices
• Support local sellers

Why buyers choose Amazon

• Fast delivery
• Easy returns
• More product variety
• Trust & Prime benefits

Both platforms shine—but for different reasons.

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6. Big Challenges for ONDC (2025)

Despite its success, ONDC still faces major challenges:

❌ Delivery speed issues

ONDC relies on different logistics partners, leading to inconsistent delivery times.

❌ Lack of standardised return policies

Unlike Amazon, there is no unified returns system.

❌ Customer trust is still growing

People still prefer “Amazon Verified” products.

❌ App fragmentation

Different apps → different buyer experiences.

ONDC needs 2–3 years to reach Amazon-level reliability.

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7. Big Challenges for Amazon (2025)

Amazon’s problems are growing:

❌ High commissions eating seller profits

Many sellers are shifting to ONDC.

❌ Increasing ads cost

Visibility now requires heavy paid ads.

❌ Antitrust pressure from India’s government

Regulatory pressure is rising.

❌ ONDC is now a real threat

Amazon is losing relevance in local commerce (kirana/daily-use products).

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8. Who Will Win the E-commerce War? (Practical 2025 Prediction)

Short-term (2025–2026)

👉 Amazon wins
Their logistics + experience is unmatched.

Long-term (2027–2030)

👉 ONDC may dominate

Because:

• Government support
• Zero monopoly
• Lower commissions
• Local business integration

Final Verdict

The real winner will not be Amazon or ONDC… it will be the sellers and consumers.
Competition will force both to improve—and that benefits everyone.

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9. What This Means for Sellers (Very Important)

If you are a seller in 2025:

You should be on BOTH Amazon and ONDC.

Why?

• Amazon = more orders
• ONDC = more profit

This hybrid strategy gives maximum growth.

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Conclusion

The battle between ONDC and Amazon is reshaping India’s e-commerce industry.
Amazon still leads in technology, logistics, and customer trust, but ONDC’s open and low-cost model is accelerating dramatically, especially with government backing.

Over the next few years, ONDC will likely drive massive disruption, giving small businesses more power and freedom than ever before.

Amazon = convenience
ONDC = freedom

Both will co-exist—but the future is shifting toward open commerce.

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