A few days after announcing the massive USD 5.7 billion deal with Facebook, Mukesh Ambani-owned JioMart has gone live via WhatsApp.

Offering its service in only three regions - Thane, Navi Mumbai and Kalyan as of now -- JioMart has already set the ball rolling to lure more customers to order goods through the e-commerce portal.

To order goods via the JioMart- WhatsApp order booking service, customers need to send a message on 8850008000.

The WhatsApp business account run by JioMart sends a link to the customer. This link is valid for only 30 minutes. The customer can then fill in details like address and phone number etc. After this, the customer has to select the items available in the JioMart product catalogue.

The JioMart catalogue has a variety of household items like besan, sooji, raw peanuts, pulses, spices as well as other packaged products.

The eventual plan is to sell even Reliance's private label brands via the kirana route soon, said a source.

Almost every product listed on the JioMart catalogue is discounted.

Once an order is placed, JioMart shares the location of the closest kirana outlet registered on JioMart. This is the location from where the customer can pick up the products ordered.

"You will receive a SMS once Kirana Partner is ready with yout order. You can pay at Kirana and pick your order," says the message shared by JioMart.

As of now only a cash payment option has been permitted. The message also gives a google map location for the Kirana store that has been identified to process the customer's order.

At this point, JioMart is not allowing any cancellation or modification of order via the WhatsApp service. "Orders placed on JioMart WhatsApp service cannot be changed, cancelled or modified. However, you can contact your JioMart Kirana for any modification in order before billing," says a message shared by JioMart.

JioMart's commercial agreement with WhatsApp was announced on April 22. The aim of this deal was to help connect kirana shops to consumers and enable delivery via Jio's mobile interface.

"Reliance Retail’s New Commerce platform, JioMart, is being built in partnership with millions of small merchants and kirana shops to empower them to better serve the needs of Indian consumers," said Reliance Industries in a press statement on April 22.

"The companies will work closely to ensure that consumers are able to access the nearest kiranas who can provide products and services to their homes by transacting seamlessly with JioMart using WhatsApp," it added.

Disclosure:

RIL, the promoter of Reliance Jio, also controls Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com.

First Published:Apr 26, 2020 7:00 PM IST