Reliance Retail has partnered with WhatsApp to roll out JioMart on the messaging platform, which will enable customers to order groceries on WhatsApp. JioMart on WhatsApp will let consumers browse through grocery catalog, add items to cart and make the online payment or even choose ‘cash on delivery’ option to complete the purchase. All this without leaving the WhatsApp chat. Isha Ambani, Director, Reliance Retail, demonstrated placing online grocery orders using WhatsApp and making payments, during her presentation at parent company Reliance Industries’ 45th AGM.
Further, talking about Reliance’s digital commerce platforms, Isha Ambani said, “We rolled out the JioMart Digital (JMD) initiative during the year. It enables small merchants to sell the entire product portfolio of Reliance Retail on an assisted selling model, helping them deliver superior customer experience and growing their income. Our digital commerce platforms of Reliance Digital and JioMart provide a comprehensive omni-channel network, enabling us to deliver 93 per cent online orders from stores within 6 hours.”
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Earlier, Mark Zukerberg and Mukesh Ambani had announced the partnership between WhatsApp and JioMart, in a joint statement. “The JioMart on WhatsApp experience will revolutionise the way millions of businesses across the country connect with their consumers while bringing unparalleled simplicity and convenience to people’s shopping experience,” the joint statement had said.
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Meta, in a Facebook post, had said, “Excited to launch our partnership with JioMart in India. This is our first-ever end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp – people can now buy groceries from JioMart right in a chat.” Interestingly, in April 2020, Facebook had announced an investment of $ 5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) to buy a 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms.
Food and grocery segment is estimated to account for over half of the nation’s retail spending, which is estimated to reach $ 1.3 trillion by 2025, according to Boston Consulting Group. While the segment is huge, there already exists a number of players in the likes of Amazon, Walmart, and startups such as Blinkit, Swiggy, Bigbasket,āmong others, already excelling in the game. And Reliance’s entry will further make the market competitive.