Reliance-backed JioMart, the platform that has helped Reliance Jio get in some $9B worth of cash from global investors — including Facebook — is now live. The platform, as was the case with its Whatsapp launch, went live quietly today. And much to our expectations, JioMart is available to general public as an ecommerce platform, selling basic utility items and groceries to start with.
The ecommerce platform comes weeks after a similar quiet launch of JioMart’s Whatsapp-based platform. The platform has been on a pilot run for past six months, in a section of Mumbai’s suburban areas — Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan.
To start shopping, one needs to create an account with Jiomart. Once done, the user can start browsing products on the web platform as well as its Android and iOS apps. The apps however, are currently not available on either of the app stores, can can be downloaded only via the website.
As of now, there are largely 6 to 8 broad categories under which JioMart currently sells products. These include Fruits and Vegetables, Staples, Dairy and Bakery, Snacks and Branded foods, personal hygiene, beverages, home care and baby care. The categories pretty much cover all daily utility items and grocery products that any household would require. On order value less than ₹750, a delivery fee of ₹25 will be levied.
The launch categories of course are tactical, considering how lockdown has brought about uncertainty across ecommerce chains on what can and can not be shipped. Daily utilities and essentials however, are all allowed to ship across the country.
As of now, deliveries will happen through Reliance’s vast retail network of over 11784 retail outlets across the country. However, as mentioned by Reliance previously, JioMart will bring upon small mom and pop stores (Kirana stores) across India on its platform, and will start delivering products from them soon. It is unclear though as to what will be the share of products between them and Reliance’s retail stores.
JioMart’s public launch was much anticipated, specially after the multi-billion deals that Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms has cracked. Jio Platforms has raised close to $9B across multiple rounds from some of the most prolific global investors, all towards Ambani’s aggressive push to transform India’s digital economy. The biggest investment of them all came in the form of a $5.7B check from Facebook, which priortised Jiomart among others things.
