Online platform JioMart taps into WhatsApp to scale up online business, thereby simplifying ordering of groceries, vegetables and daily essentials. This is a step taken in e-commerce for dominance in the giant Indian retail market with Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart.
A new ‘tap and chat’ option allows users to order groceries through WhatsApp. Delivery is free and there is no minimum order value. Customer can fill their shopping carts within the app and pay either via JioMart or in cash on delivery.
The JioMart experience through WhatsApp is actually, very simply put – ‘conversational’ in nature. WhatsApp is extremely simple and easy to use; so there’s no customer inhibition when ordering for supplies. “Bread, butter, vegetables, beverages, everything that you need in your household that day or that week… look up a product, set up a subscription for a regular buy if that’s what you want, or get personalized recommendations based on your past purchase history, it’s all there”.
Facebook, now known as Meta, in April last year invested USD 5.7 billion for a 9.99 per cent in Jio Platforms, the digital and telecom arm of Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. The partnership was aimed at connecting over 400 million WhatsApp users and half a million retailers that Reliance has on its network. And playing a catalyst is cheap data that 425 million subscribers of Reliance Jio get. The orders are executed using the network of Reliance Retail, the biggest brick-and-mortar store chain.
Also, prepaid users of Reliance Jio can recharge using WhatsApp. As Jio and Meta teams work closely, we are opening more and more avenues of working together. One such avenue is Jio on WhatsApp, which is simplifying the entire ‘prepaid recharge. This will bring consumers convenience like they’ve never had before.
Food and groceries account for nearly half of India’s retail spending, which is projected to reach as much as USD 1.3 trillion by 2025, according to Boston Consulting Group.
Interconnected to the entire scheme is Jio’s low-priced smartphone that it is offering in association with Google. The phone comes preloaded with the JioMart and WhatsApp apps. Last year, Google invested USD 4.5 billion for a 7.73 per cent stake in Jio Platforms Ltd.
The partnership with Meta allowed to quickly leveraging the strength of the WhatsApp platform that provides access to over 400 million people. JioMart currently has over half a million retailers and is growing every day.