About approximately a month after JioMart was launched, the company’s ambitious pilot project to gradually link millions of small supply stores to clients around the country was delayed by the scarcity of distribution staff in local ‘Kirana’ stores in Mumbai’s suburb of Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Kalyan. Attesting to the progress of the network, many Kirana stores that were clogged in for the network by JioMart also told the company Mint that operation via the venture was stopped because of a shortage of distribution workers. The above-listed Kirana stores also sustain that Reliance Retail Ltd serves its customers.
“We have stopped placing orders for some weeks,” said JioMart ‘s supermarket owner in Kharghar, a part of JioMart. This happens almost two weeks after JioMart launches on 23 May its website, jiomart.com, and services in 200 cities. Reliance Retail runs local shops, supermarkets, hypermarkets, bulk distributors, specialty shops, and online stores. It sells staples, food, home, personal care, and commodities.
To request WhatsApp, clients had to have JioMart’s WhatsApp on their phones to be connected to their Whatsapp chat windows. The 30-minute link leads users to a new page containing a catalog of products from which they have ordered. After the final order was put, the central Kirana store exchanged the order with WhatsApp and the local store will eventually transfer the order to the customer.
“The major difficulty has been the supply after Covid-19 generated problems with distribution and timetable,” reported Jefferies India Pvt Ltd. in its 8 June article, where its channel inspections revealed that the orders from JioMart via Whatsapp have ceased in the last two weeks. Jefferies India said that Reliance Retail has told most retailers that the operations will start soon and only temporarily shutdown is required.
In particular, when several areas in Bumbaí (where the pilot was conducted) faced the COVID-19 crisis, the current environment may not be very favorable towards an ambitious project of linking up conventional grocers, “said Jefferies India. It is only a timing issue and Jio Mart will eventually link the traditional channel to gain scale and effectiveness since the possibility remains immense.
Reliance Retail and WhatsApp of Facebook Inc concluded a strategic collaboration deal on 22 April to speed up the operation of their former organization utilizing the JioMart Instant Messaging App and to support SMBs on WhatsApp. The partnership was part of the $5.7 billion investment by Facebook in 9.9% of the stake in RIL ‘s digital subsidiary Jio Platforms Limited.
With JioMart, the small business project of Jio, Whatsapp would make it possible for people to link to firms, shops, or make transactions via a smooth smartphone interface, said Facebook last April.
