SUMMARY
- During Ola Group’s yearly event ‘Sankalp’, Bhavish Aggarwal, the CEO and founder of Ola Cabs, announced the rebranding of Ola Cabs as Ola Consumer.
- In its new form, Ola Consumer is set to provide a wide range of consumer services aimed at making online shopping more accessible, affordable, and efficient
- Ola has introduced a loyalty program, Ola Coin, in Bengaluru which offers personalized loyalty rewards that can be redeemed across Ola’s mobility, ecommerce, and logistics services.
During Ola Group’s yearly event ‘Sankalp’, Bhavish Aggarwal, the CEO and founder of Ola Cabs, announced the rebranding of Ola Cabs as Ola Consumer.
In its new form, Ola Consumer is set to provide a wide range of consumer services aimed at making online shopping more accessible, affordable, and efficient.
He stated, “At Ola Consumer, our aim is to ensure that every consumer has access to the best products and services without barriers of traditional commerce. 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.”
Aggarwal highlighted the company’s plans to tackle various consumer issues through Ola Consumer. He first introduced the relaunch of Ola Share, a ride-sharing service that allows users to secure cheaper rides by sharing them with others. The service is set to launch in Bengaluru today and will be expanded over time.
Under Ola Share, users will be limited to a maximum of 20-minute trip deviations, and the service will accommodate up to two passengers in a shared taxi.
Additionally, Ola has introduced a loyalty program, Ola Coin, in Bengaluru. This program offers personalized loyalty rewards that can be redeemed across Ola’s mobility, ecommerce, and logistics services.
In an effort to cut down on steep middleman expenses, the firm is focusing more on its collaboration with ONDC, with Aggarwal describing the latter as the pivotal moment for online shopping in India. “Ola was one of the initial partners with ONDC, and our goal is to expand ONDC throughout India,” Aggarwal stated.
The company boasts that its food and grocery delivery service on Ola ONDC has exceeded 40,000 orders per day in Bengaluru during its pilot in 2024. To further penetrate this market, Ola Consumer will provide one year of complimentary Krutrim Cloud access to all ONDC suppliers, including startups and SMEs, under a fair usage policy. D2C brands will also receive one year of complimentary Krutrim Cloud access.
Ola also launched Ola Credit, a credit platform that offers low-cost loans to Ola users. The company has partnered with Tata Capital and Incred for this initiative. Moreover, Ola introduced Ola Pay, a feature that uses UPI on the Ola app for ride, food, and grocery payments.
Aggarwal also emphasized Ola Consumer’s commitment to sustainable logistics, aiming to reduce logistics costs by approximately 50%. The company plans to electrify last-mile logistics to achieve this goal.
The company statement mentioned, “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.”
With a focus on sustainable mobility solutions and supporting ONDC operations, Ola Consumer aims to reduce logistics costs by electrifying delivery logistics and enhancing cost synergies.
The company further plans to enhance the shopping experience on Ola Consumer by launching an AI shopping copilot. This feature is currently live on the Ola app and will personalize the shopping experience by connecting users with social media and other apps.
Aggarwal also unveiled Ola’s latest innovation, fully automated dark stores and fulfillment centers under the Ola Consumer brand. He stated that these dark stores, which have a prototype showcased at the event, will transform the warehousing sector, significantly improving the commerce supply chain.
In addition to Ola Consumer, Ola Group has announced several new initiatives for Krutrim AI and Ola Electric.
