Quick Answer

To sell groceries online in India via  ONDC, register with an ONDC-enabled seller app such as COSTBO, complete KYC  with your PAN, GSTIN, FSSAI license, and bank details, upload your grocery  catalog, and go live — often within 24 hours. Once approved, your store  becomes visible across multiple ONDC buyer apps at once, with delivery  options ranging from 20-minute quick commerce to same-day and scheduled  delivery.

India's grocery shoppers have moved online fast,and ONDC has become one of the more affordable ways for a kirana store,distributor, or FMCG brand to reach them — without the steep commissionscharged by closed marketplaces. This guide walks through exactly how to getyour grocery business selling on ONDC, step by step, along with the numbersthat explain why grocery is one of the network's fastest-growing categoriesright now.

Grocery E-commerce in India: The Numbers

A few data points worth knowing before you setup shop:

•     India's onlinegrocery market was valued at roughly USD 14.3–14.9 billion in 2025, andmultiple industry forecasts put it on track to grow at a 24%+ CAGR through theearly 2030s.

•     Food grains andstaples currently make up around 22% of online grocery sales by product type,the single largest share — a sign of how much recurring, repeat-purchase demandexists in the category.

•     ONDC's sellerbase grew roughly 40x during 2023 alone, and the network has crossed 5 lakh+registered sellers with a buyer base reported above 50 million — grocery andFMCG are among the categories driving that growth.

•     Quick commerce —10 to 20 minute delivery — is increasingly built directly into ONDCfulfillment, with several sellers now offering ultra-fast grocery deliverythrough the network rather than a standalone app.

The opportunity is real, but grocery is also anunforgiving category: thin margins, perishable stock, and customers who expectspeed. Getting the setup right matters more here than in almost any othercategory.

Why Sell Groceries Online Through ONDC

Traditional marketplaces charge grocery sellerscommissions that often run 20–30%, which eats hard into already-thin grocerymargins. ONDC changes that equation in three ways:

•     Lower effectivecommissions, since ONDC itself charges no platform fee — sellers pay only theirchosen seller app's charges, which are typically lower than closedmarketplaces.

•     One listing,multiple buyer apps — instead of managing separate storefronts on eachmarketplace, your catalog can surface across every ONDC-enabled buyer app atonce.

•     Built forhyperlocal and quick delivery, which matters more in grocery than almost anyother category, where 15–20 minute delivery visibly changes conversion rates.

If you want the fuller picture of how ONDC worksbefore registering, see our guide on what ONDC is and how it works — it coversthe buyer app / seller app / logistics structure in plain language.

Traditional Marketplace vs ONDC — At a Glance

Step 1: Get Your Documents Ready

Before you touch a seller app, have these ready:

•     PAN card andGSTIN of the business

•     FSSAI license —mandatory for any business selling food or groceries in India, whether packagedor fresh

•     Bank accountdetails with a cancelled cheque

•     Aadhaar for KYCverification

The FSSAI license is the step that trips up mostfirst-time grocery sellers. Sort this before you start onboarding, since bothpackaged food and fresh produce fall under FSSAI's scope, and an incompletefiling is the most common reason grocery listings get delayed.

Step 2: Choose a Seller App Built for Grocery

Not every ONDC seller app handles grocery well.Look for one that supports:

•     Perishable andshort-shelf-life inventory — grocery stock changes daily, so bulk catalogupdates need to be fast, not manual per SKU

•     Multi-store ordark-store setup — if you fulfill from more than one location, stock needs tobe tracked per location, not just in one master catalog

•     Weight andquantity-based pricing — groceries are commonly sold by kg, litre, or packsize, and the catalog tool needs to reflect that cleanly

This is where COSTBO's seller platform ispurpose-built for grocery and FMCG sellers: bulk catalog upload,multi-warehouse inventory sync, and same-day to 20-minute delivery across 40+cities, all from a single dashboard — with the ability to go live on ONDC in aslittle as 24 hours.

Step 3: Build a Catalog That Converts

•     Clear productimages showing pack size and quantity, not just the brand logo

•     Accurate, ideallyautomatically updated stock counts — nothing kills repeat orders like acancellation after checkout

•     Category tagging(staples, fresh produce, dairy, snacks, beverages) so products surfacecorrectly in buyer app search

•     Pricing thatclearly reflects pack-size variants, so a 500g and 1kg version of the sameproduct aren't confused in listings

Step 4: Set Up Delivery That Matches Grocery Shopping Habits

Grocery buyers expect speed. Depending on yoursetup, you can offer:

•     Quick commercedelivery (15–20 minutes) from a dark store or nearby outlet

•     Same-day deliveryif fulfilling from a central warehouse

•     Scheduled ornext-day delivery for bulk or non-urgent orders

If you're deciding which delivery model fitsyour business, see our guide on quick commerce for sellers and brands, whichbreaks down the setup, cost, and logistics tradeoffs of each option.

Step 5: Go Live and Monitor Performance

Once your catalog and delivery are set up, mostONDC seller apps — including COSTBO — take you through a KYC review, typically2–3 days, before your products go live on buyer apps. After that:

•     Track ordervolume and cancellations by SKU to catch stockout issues early

•     Watch for returnstied to wrong pack sizes or expired stock — a common early mistake for newgrocery sellers

•     Use repeat-orderdata to plan promotions around your fastest-moving items

Common Mistakes Grocery Sellers Make on ONDC

•     Listing withoutFSSAI details filled in correctly, which causes approval delays

•     Not updatingstock in real time, leading to cancellations and lower seller ratings

•     Promisingdelivery outside the actual fulfillment radius, which frustrates customers andhurts ratings

•     Underpricing tocompete with marketplace rates, without accounting for ONDC's lower commissionstructure, which usually allows better margins than sellers expect

Frequently Asked Questions

Is FSSAI registration mandatory to sellgroceries online in India?

Yes. Any business selling food products orgroceries online in India — packaged or fresh — needs a valid FSSAI license aspart of ONDC seller KYC.

How long does it take to start selling grocerieson ONDC?

With documents ready, KYC review typically takes2–3 days. Some ONDC-ready seller apps, including COSTBO, can take a seller livewithin 24 hours once approved.

Can one grocery store sell on multiple ONDCbuyer apps at the same time?

Yes — that's the core advantage of ONDC. Asingle catalog listed through one seller app can appear across multipleONDC-enabled buyer apps, rather than requiring separate accounts on each.

Is ONDC cheaper than selling on marketplaceslike Blinkit or BigBasket for grocery sellers?

Commission structures vary by seller app, butONDC itself charges no platform fee, and effective commissions are generallylower than the 20–30% typical of closed grocery marketplaces.

What delivery speed can grocery sellers offer onONDC?

Depending on the seller app and fulfillmentsetup, options range from 15–20 minute quick commerce delivery to same-day andscheduled delivery.

Ready to Start Selling Groceries on ONDC?

Grocery is one of the categories where COSTBOsellers see the fastest traction — driven by same-day and quick commercedelivery, multi-warehouse stock management, and a catalog tool built forfast-moving SKUs. Get started with COSTBO and go live on ONDC in 24 hours.

Related Reading

•     What Is ONDC? A Beginner's Guide for Indian Sellers

•     How to Registeras a Seller on ONDC (Step-by-Step)

•     Quick CommerceGuide for Brands & Sellers

References

• IndiaOnline Grocery Market Size & Share Report 2035 — Expert Market Research —https://www.expertmarketresearch.com/reports/india-online-grocery-market

• IndiaOnline Grocery Market Size | Industry Report, 2030 — Grand View Research —https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/india-online-grocery-market

• IndianOnline Grocery Market Size, Share | Report 2034 — IMARC Group —https://www.imarcgroup.com/indian-online-grocery-market

• ONDCRegistration Guide 2025: Complete Guide for Sellers — Corpzo —https://www.corpzo.com/ondc-registration-a-complete-guide-for-sellers

• Sellerson the ONDC Network — ONDC.org — https://www.ondc.org/sellers/

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