Ola Consumer sets new standards in retail with ONDC, AI shopping co-pilot, and 100% electric logistics

Bhavish Aggarwal on Thursday also launched its electric motorcycles and unveiled its indigenously developed cells and battery pack, along with the new Gen-3 platform and MoveOS 5.

During its event Sankalp 2024, Ola Consumer introduced innovations including ONDC integration, 100% electric logistics, AI-driven discovery, accessible credit, automated warehousing, advanced manufacturing tech systems, and a loyalty program.

Bhavish Aggarwal, Founder, Ola Consumer said: “India is one of the fastest growing digital economies and we are already living in the future, a future where AI, electric mobility, and technologies are converging  to create a commerce ecosystem that is uniquely Indian yet globally competitive. At Ola Consumer, our aim is to ensure that every consumer has access to the best products and services without barriers of traditional commerce.”He added: “To further this goal, in the last six months, we have progressed beyond mobility and powered Ola Consumer with technology innovations, redefining commerce for India while delivering more value to our consumers, with a fair and efficient ecosystem. We are proud to serve India at scale and continue to do so with Indigenous technologies being at the heart of this transformation.” 

Aggarwal today also launched its electric motocyles and unveiled its indigenously developed cells and battery pack, along with the new Gen-3 platform and MoveOS 5.

According to the statement, Ola Consumer innovations include:

ONDC: ONDC will be the UPI moment for commerce and make a democratic ecosystem that will bring down the cost of commerce. Ola food and grocery on ONDC surpassed 40K orders per day in Bengaluru in a pilot concluded in 2024. Ola Consumer is set to introduce more categories on ONDC soon. To further support this growing ecosystem, Ola Consumer will offer one year of free Krutrim Cloud for all ONDC suppliers, applicable for startups and SMEs, under a fair usage policy. In addition, D2C brands will also be given one year of free access to Krutrim Cloud.

AI Shopping Co-Pilot: This conversational AI-led tool will be focused on a personalised and highly interactive shopping experience. It will help users connect seamlessly with social media and other apps, creating a cohesive and integrated shopping experience across all platforms. The AI Shopping co-pilot is a pioneering move towards making shopping next-level experiential for online users.

Electric Logistics: With a consistent focus on sustainable mobility solutions and providing a backbone to ONDC operations, Ola Consumer plans to drive cost synergies by electrifying delivery logistics and reducing logistics costs. This would serve as the future of work, a multi-work platform, and a choice of jobs for gig workers leading to reduced costs, with plans to increase jobs by 2.5 lac additional jobs by March 2025 with this platform.Credit on demand: Ola Consumer announced initiatives aimed at providing accessible and affordable credit solutions for all.

Ola Credit Ola Credit will make credit accessible in partnership with Tata Capital and Incred. The feature will ensure personal loans at the click of a button, supported by a 100% digitized process, and credit in the bank account within minutes.

Ola Pay – Ola Consumer launched Ola Pay, which uses UPI on the Ola App to pay for rides, food, and groceries.

Automated warehousing:  With a vision to have fully automated dark stores and state-of-the-art fulfillment centers, Ola Consumer is looking at revolutionising the warehousing space that supercharges the commerce supply chain. The company already has partnerships with several large FMCG and D2C brands including ITC, Marico and Bombay Shaving Company for efficient and automated warehousing operations, elevating logistics to reduce manual wastage and high costs of storage.

Ola Consumer is elevating the ride-hailing experience by focusing on mobility services with a strong emphasis on customer centricity, affordability, premiumisation, and electrification. Over the next two years, Ola plans to deploy 100,000 2W EVs. The introduction of Ola Share will provide an affordable and convenient cab option during peak hours, with a guaranteed trip deviation of less than 20 minutes and a maximum of two passengers to ensure a seamless experience.

Additionally, Ola announced the Ola Loyalty program—Ola Coin, which will reward users for every transaction made across mobility, e-commerce, and logistics services. The program will launch first in Bengaluru before expanding across India.