Govt Advocates Online DigiDukaan to Supply Kirana Stores for Distribution Network

Ø Industry Stakeholders Discuss DigiDukaan Expansion and Share Recommendations on General Trade Digitisation

Key Highlights

· The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and Open Network for Digital Commerce organized the CPG Roundtable – Bharat Commerce Chintan Shivir on 12 June 2026.

· The meeting focused on accelerating the digital transformation of India's General Trade (GT) ecosystem.

Importance of General Trade

· India has over 1.4 crore kirana stores.

· General Trade contributes 75–80% of FMCG sales in the country.

· The sector faces challenges such as:

o Fragmented ordering systems.

o Limited inventory visibility.

o Manual sales and collection processes.

o Rising sales-force costs and inventory inefficiencies.

DigiDukaan Initiative

· DigiDukaan is ONDC’s B2B procurement platform for digitising kirana stores.

· It aims to improve efficiency across the FMCG supply chain.

Benefits for Kirana Stores

· Better visibility of company schemes and offers.

· Improved product availability (fill rates).

· Better working capital management.

· Direct and efficient procurement.

Benefits for Distributors

· Wider retailer reach without additional field costs.

· Digital order and collection management.

· Improved retailer coverage and productivity.

Benefits for Brands

· Direct access to retailer demand data.

· Better tracking and implementation of promotional schemes.

· Improved demand forecasting and market insights.

Current Progress

· In Hyderabad, over 10,000 retailers and 35+ brands have already joined through Qwipo.

· DigiDukaan will launch in Jaipur on 19 June 2026 through Salescode.

· Future expansion is planned in:

o Mumbai

o Bengaluru

o Delhi-NCR

Industry Participation

Leading companies participated, including:

· Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL)

· ITC Limited

· Coca-Cola

· Tata Consumer Products

· CavinKare

· Marico

· Nestlé India

· L'Oréal

Conclusion

The roundtable highlighted DigiDukaan as a major step towards modernising India's kirana ecosystem by improving procurement, inventory management, retailer connectivity, and supply-chain efficiency. Industry stakeholders also shared recommendations on distributor digitisation, catalogue standardisation, retailer onboarding, and technology integration to support the next phase of expansion.

[ABS News Service/13.06.2026]

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), in collaboration with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), convened a CPG Roundtable – Bharat Commerce Chintan Shivir on 12 June 2026. The roundtable brought together leaders from leading consumer goods companies, distributor networks, technology providers and logistics partners to discuss the digital transformation of India's General Trade ecosystem.

India's General Trade ecosystem, comprising over 1.4 crore kirana stores, accounts for nearly 75–80 per cent of FMCG sales. However, much of the channel continues to operate through fragmented ordering systems, limited inventory visibility and manual sales processes, resulting in inefficiencies for retailers, distributors and brands.

The discussions focused on DigiDukaan, ONDC's initiative aimed at digitising kirana stores for B2B procurement. Designed to improve efficiency across the value chain, DigiDukaan enables kirana stores to improve margins through direct procurement by offering better visibility of schemes, improved fill rates and enhanced working capital management. For distributors, the initiative facilitates wider market reach without additional field costs through order and collection digitisation, while improving retailer coverage. For brands, it provides direct access to retailer demand signals, retail counters, and more effective deployment and tracking of schemes.

DigiDukaan has already gained early traction in Hyderabad, where more than 10,000 retailers and over 35 brands have been onboarded through Qwipo. Following Hyderabad, DigiDukaan is scheduled to launch in Jaipur on 19 June 2026 through Salescode, with expansion planned across Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR in the coming months.

Industry leaders discussed key challenges facing the General Trade ecosystem, including fragmented retailer engagement, rising sales-force costs, inventory inefficiencies, limited visibility into secondary sales and increasing competition from digital-first retail models. Participants also explored how open digital infrastructure can improve retailer access, distributor productivity, demand planning and scheme effectiveness across the FMCG value chain.

The roundtable provided a platform for stakeholders to share recommendations on distributor digitisation, catalogue standardisation, retailer onboarding and technology integration. Participating companies were also invited to collaborate as founding partners in the next phase of DigiDukaan's expansion.

The roundtable was chaired by Additional Secretary, DPIIT, Shri Ateesh Kumar Singh, and saw participation from companies including HUL, ITC, Coca-Cola, TCPL, CavinKare, Marico, Bikano, L'Oréal, Moon Beverages, Anmol Industries, Nestlé and Kirana King. The participating organisations expressed interest in engaging with and supporting the DigiDukaan initiative.