Sri Vijaya Puram, November 12: A one-day, hands-on capacity-building workshop on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) was held today in the Conference Hall of the Directorate of Industries to help the A&N Emporium Sagarika take its products live on ONDC. Officials and staff of the Emporium and its beneficiaries/sellers attended.
Addressing the gathering, Mrs. Ritu Singh, Director of Industries, said ONDC would transform the Sagarika Government Emporium from a localised, tourist-dependent outlet into a pan-India digital storefront. She said local artisans crafting wood, coconut shell and seashell handicrafts had relied almost exclusively on the seasonal footfall of tourists, and that ONDC would allow these self-employed craftsmen to reach buyers across the country through any ONDC-compliant app, ensuring year-round demand and stable livelihoods.
Mr. Praveen Choudhary, Vice-President, ONDC, and Ms. Tamanna Sharma, Programme Manager, ONDC, also addressed the gathering and extended their good wishes. They said the open network offers a cost-effective alternative to the large e-commerce platforms and, by eliminating steep commission fees and offering multilingual digital support, enables the Islands’ artisans to sell their handicrafts at fair prices while keeping a larger share of their profits.
The technical session began with a recap of the recommended model for Sagarika as an umbrella brand and aggregator, with a seller app and mainland warehousing. Five sessions followed on catalogue and packaging, marketing and visibility, logistics and warehousing, pricing, and a live demonstration of the white-label seller app. Participants received practical guidance on preparing product listings and meeting labelling and compliance requirements, reaching buyers across the network, moving stock from Sri Vijaya Puram to the mainland, pricing in a way that protects the producer’s earnings, and operating the seller app. The Sagarika team and officials also got a clearer picture of the support ONDC will provide in onboarding.
The Department expressed its appreciation to the ONDC team for the visit and for helping the artisans of Andaman & Nicobar become aware of the ONDC initiative.
