After conducting a pilot launch (Alpha testing) in five cities with a closed user group, the government’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) will soon open for beta-testing with the public in limited areas.
Since April-end, ONDC has been testing with a closed user group for end-to-end execution.
Beta testing is a type of user acceptance testing where the product team gives a nearly finished product to a group of target users to evaluate product performance in the real world.
There is no standard for what a beta test should look like and how to set up beta testing.
Alpha tests are carried out early in the development process by internal staff and are followed up with beta tests, in which a sampling of the intended audience actually tries the product out.
Salient Features of ONDC
- It has been incubated by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) at the Quality Council of India.
- It has been incorporated as a private, non-profit (Section-8) company.
- The buyers and sellers do not have to use the same platform or same mobile app to have a transaction. They can use different applications and still do business transactions.
- It aims to promote an open platform for all aspects of the exchange of goods and services through electronic networks.
- It aims at providing equitable access to small and medium businesses to make their goods and services available to a large set of consumers online.
- It seeks to promote open networks for all aspects of the exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks.
- It is based on open-sourced methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific platform.
- Consumers can potentially discover any seller, product or service by using any compatible application or platform, thus increasing freedom of choice for consumers.
- ONDC will enable the consumers to match demand with the nearest available supply.
