(Image source from: siasat.com)
Following Facebook Inc. aquiring 9.99% of Reliance Jio’s shares, the Indian brand piloted their first run of Jio Mart on WhatsApp. The facility is currently available in only three localities surrounding Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan.
If you are anywhere around these areas and do want to avail the services, all that you need to do is save the WhatsApp number that JioMart operates with. It is 8850008000 and then send a “Hi” to that number.
Once you send a “Hi”, JioMart will revert with a message containing a link that redirects to the webpage of the registration. You need to fill in the name and the address accordingly in the spaces provided. Mind you, the link provided in the message is only available for 30 minutes after which it becomes invalid.
In the marketplace, the user can scroll through the displayed products and put the desired ones in the cart as per their requirements. Due to government limitations, only essential items are available at the moment.
Following the placement of the order, the same is then shared with the grocery store on WhatsApp. The customer also gets their order ID and all the store details via WhatsApp itself. A link redirecting to the location of the store is also shared with the users.
The User will also receive a confirmation message via an SMS once the retailers are ready for the order to be picked up. The users have the free will to either receive all the items or then pay at the shop or can even opt for home delivery. In some areas around Mumbai, only home delivery is available.
Inc42, which is one of the authorised retailers with JioMart said that they have completely stopped over the counter sales because of the rising complexities of the Covid-19 outbreak. This is the reason why home deliveries have become viable in such areas of Thane and Navi Mumbai.
The JioMart was launched in January and is expected to have a marketplace consisting of over 50,000 grocery products for the customers. But, due to the restrictions at the moment, the marketplace is now offering just 40 of the essential items including rice, sugar, flour etc.
Currently, 18 branded stores in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan has been registered on JioMart and are operational as well.
The JioMart services are currently available only in Maharashtra as it is in the pilot stage and is likely going to expand in the coming days. JioMart is also likely to roll out its own retail stores to make groceries even more accessible.
This venture is expected to experience a major expansion with the 400 million user base the WhatsApp has at the moment.
Although, in India, JioMart is likely going to experience a lot of competition from some of the existing retail and grocery ecommerce platforms like Big Basket and Grofers. Aside from that, some of the big names in the ecommerce industry of Flipkart and Amazon along with Swiggy and Zomato have also ventured into this.
The competition is growing stiffer day by day and whether or not JioMart comes out as a success following this pilot phase is still something that only time will tell.
By Somapika Dutta
