Earlier this year, Reliance Industries’s Reliance Retail announced JioMart, a web portal to buy food and groceries online in an attempt to take on BigBasket, Flipkart, Amazon India, and more. Initially, the online grocery service was launched in Navi Mumbai, Thane, and Kalyan as a part of the pilot programme.
In the recent development, JioMart has expanded its operation to more than 200 towns across the country. Right now, the service is available only on the web version, however, the mobile version is expected soon. Furthermore, the JioMart offers free express delivery from neighborhood mom-and-pop stores.
The venture is not designed to be a direct market to consumers for groceries, rather be a last-mile connection to neighbourhood stores and consumers. The app will behave as an aggregator where it will partner local grocers and equip them with points of sale (PoS) terminals, low-interest working capital, inventory management skills, and GST compliance.
According to the company, the product listed online is sourced directly from the registered farmers. It’s worth mentioning that the company wants farmers to move online to sell their products and increase their business that was impacted due to COVID-19.