The company plans to expand the service by this calendar year end to more than 200 cities and towns where JioMart is currently operational , two industry executives said.
With this, Reliance will compete against Tata-owned Bigbasket, Zomato-funded Blinkit, Swiggy’s Instamart, Walmart-owned Flipkart Quick and Zepto. Unlike some platforms like Blinkit and Zepto which are targeting ten-minute delivery of the order, JioMart Express is promising 90-minute delivery and no minimum order value, though free deliveries are only for orders above Rs 199.
All deliveries by JioMart Express will be fulfilled from Reliance Retail stores. The service covers groceries, personal care and home care products at present. Executives said Reliance is evaluating options to include other categories too, such as medicines and small electronic products like smartphones.
An email sent to Reliance Retail seeking comment remained unanswered as of Friday press time.
ET had in March written about Reliance’s entry into quick commerce through a new platform, JioMart Express.
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Retail is India’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer by both number of stores and sales, and is the market leader in categories like grocery, electronics and apparel. Earlier this year, Reliance led a $240 million funding round in quick commerce hyperlocal firm Dunzo, making it the largest shareholder with a 26% stake.
“JioMart Express will utilise Dunzo in the markets where it is strong, like the metros as well as its own delivery fleet,” an executive said.
Quick commerce is not new for Reliance Retail. It has been delivering orders in less than three hours placed through Reliance Digital online or app for small consumer electronics such as mobile phones and laptops.
“However, order volumes are going to be much more frequent in grocery, and hence it would need a robust backend and delivery fleet for JioMart Express,” the second executive said.
According to researcher RedSeer, India’s quick commerce market is set to grow 15 times by 2025, reaching close to $5.5 billion. Online shoppers in metros have been using quick commerce for their unplanned and top-up purchases.
