JioMart sees 6,000 kirana stores going onboard to offer WhatsApp grocery shopping

JioMart is an online-to-offline (O2O) business platform where customers can place an order online, but purchases the products offline (nearest local retail stores).

Additionally, JioMart promises free home delivery, express delivery services and ‘never before savings’ once the App is launched.

After signing a historic $5.7 billion deal with Facebook on April 22, Reliance Industries’ e-commerce platform JioMart is now live in Kalyan, Thane and Navi Mumbai near Mumbai.

Read our extensive coverage on Facebook-Jio deal here

Customers can place an order on JioMart’s WhatsApp number 8850008000 using their phones.

Launched in January, the web-only arm of Reliance Retail allows consumers to purchase from among 50,000 products including groceries and other essential items along with private labels owned by Reliance Retail.

JioMart is expected to cater services to other parts of the country soon.

The Reliance Jio-owned e-commerce platform aims to connect 20 crore customers to three crore offline stores throughout the country.

“In the very near future, JioMart and WhatsApp will empower nearly three crore small Indian kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood. This means all of you can order and get faster delivery of day-to-day items from nearby local shops. At the same time, small kiranas can grow their businesses and create new employment opportunities,” Mukesh Ambani, CMD, Reliance Industries said in a video on April 22.

Customer experience

To know the actual customer experience, Moneycontrol spoke to few customers who have already used Jio Mart WhatsApp service for shipping groceries.

A resident of Kalyan, Prashant Sankhe said, “The grocery shopping was hassle free. The ordering process is simple. We were given a name of Manish stores, a Kiranawalla closest to our house. We went and collected our order and made the payment there.”

Another resident of Thane, Aditya Phatak said the best part was they didn’t have to stand in the queue for 1-2 hours which they have been doing during the lockdown for buying essentials.

Preeti Radia, a college going student, residing in Navi Mumbai said she is happy with ‘no minimum value’ for shopping groceries. “I stay alone and my requirement is limited. A lot of places deliver only if I buy worth Rs 500 or worth Rs 1,000. So, I am happy that on JioMart there is no minimum value for shopping.”

She said she is awaiting for the Jio app launch when the groceries will be directly delivered at home.

Swati Gadakh said she is happy with the hassle free return policy. “I had ordered a particular shampoo and instead he sent another shampoo which I didn’t want, I went to the kirana shop and without asking me any questions he changed it immediately and difference in the pricing was returned to me.”

How to place an order on JioMart via WhatsApp:-

1 — Users need to save the JioMart WhatsApp number — 88500 08000 — in their contacts.

2 — Once saved, send a ‘Hi’ message to JioMart on WhatsApp.

3 — JioMart will reply with an automated text to your message on WhatsApp with a link to select your locality and products. Keep in mind that the link is valid only for 30 minutes after you receive it. You can send a ‘Hi’ again to receive a new link in case the original URL expires.

4 — Fill up the form will all the details and click ‘Proceed’.

5 — Next, JioMart will list all the products available for order in your area. Select the items you wish to order and then hit ‘Place Order’.

6 — The merchant will update you once the order is ready, following which you can head to the store and collect your JioMart order.

Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd., which also owns Jio, is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.