Indian business conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited has just launched JioMart, its highly-anticipated venture into the eCommerce platform, to take on giants like Amazon and Flipkart. Operated by Reliance Retail, the retailing arm of Reliance Industries, JioMart is currently available only in limited regions around the Mumbai city as part of a pilot program.
JioMart will leverage the power of the local shops, (known as kiranas in India), to deliver grocery directly to your doorstep, and the company has over 50,000 listed kiranas in the three areas where it is currently active. Reliance being a domestic player does not come under the purview of strict FDI regulations that Amazon has to deal with. Plus, they have the upper hand, as the government could change its outlook anytime to protect the interests of the small businesses throughout the country.
RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani had hinted at the venture last year by calling it a “new commerce initiative”. “In its final form JioMart will connect three crore offline retailers to over 20 crore households throughout India”, Ambani stated at the company’s 42nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in August 2019.
In a bid to kickstart its eCommerce initiative, Reliance Retail has opened pre-registrations for JioMart. The platform is slated to offer over 50,000 grocery products to clients. Along with a bunch of benefits including free home delivery irrespective of minimum order value, express delivery, and easy return policy. RIL describes JioMart as “Desh Ki Nayi Dukaan” or the country’s new shop on the official JioMart website. JioMart is expected to have a major impact on existing eCommerce ventures, with Amazon and Flipkart regulars shifting loyalty.
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A recent report on Mint claims Reliance has invited existing Jio Telecom users to register with JioMart and avail introductory discounts. The website mentions customers are entitled to offers worth Rs. 3,000 on early sign-up. Instead of focusing on building storage and inventory facilities, RIL has joined hands with existing offline businesses as part of its offline to online (O2O) business strategy. The strategy is similar to what Amazon Pantry and Grofers do at the moment.
“Beta testing JioMart with thousands of merchants across India has established our premise with a significant improvement to sales and profit margins for the participants. We are slowly moving towards launching the service on a mass scale”, Ambani added during the 42nd AGM in August.
Apart from groceries, JioMart will also sell daily staples and household items like soap and shampoo. Hence, competing directly with Amazon Prime Now, which promises two-hour delivery of common household items. The official JioMart website claims that an Android and iOS app is in the making. Upon launch, users will be able to place orders directly from their smartphones. Reliance is yet to announce a tentative launch date of the mobile app, stating that it is currently under development.
In the wake of launching JioMart, RIL was previously seen working with software firm C-Square that specializes in sales force automation for distribution firms, virtual business operation, and eCommerce platforms. Back in March 2019, RIL showed interest in acquiring logistics services Grab A Grub for this very reason. Apart from acquiring businesses complimenting JioMart’s mission, Reliance is increasing its effort in Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) to offer customers better shopping experience.
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