Reliance Industries is set to foray into quick commerce next month as JioMart prepares to launch deliveries in under-30 minutes, Times of India reported on May 29, quoting sources familiar with the development.
The service will deliver groceries in 7-8 cities to start with, and then gradually scale up to cover over 1,000 cities, according to the news report. Reliance Retail did not respond to queries by Times of India.
Moneycontrol is yet to independently verify the development.
The report added that JioMart could look to tap into Reliance Retail’s vast network of stores and fulfilment centres to run the quick commerce operation. The quick commerce foray comes a year after Reliance had discontinued the 90-minute grocery delivery service called JioMart Express.
As of today, JioMart offers next-day delivery options to customers. Reliance's entry into quick commerce is expected to intensify competition in this space where, currently Blinkit, Swiggy and Zepto are offering deliveries of groceries and some non-grocery items within 10-15 minutes.
Earlier in April, Moneycontrol had reported that Walmart-owned Flipkart too was preparing to ramp up its quick commerce plans.
Quick commerce is already a $5 billion annual sales channel, according to Goldman Sachs. Mamaearth's co-founder and CEO Varun Alagh told Moneycontrol separately that quick commerce is growing 4-5 times faster than other traditional e-commerce channels. Earlier in May, Avenue Supermarts CEO Neville Noronha had called quick commerce the big structural change in the retail landscape.
Disclaimer: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
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