Reliance has started testing its online shopping portal days after Facebook said it would invest $5.7 billion (Rs. 43,574 crores) in digital assets controlled by the company’s billionaire Chairman Mukesh Ambani. JioMart, an e-commerce venture of Reliance Retail, is serving users in three neighborhoods surrounding Mumbai, according to the JioMartLite website. The shopping app is available via Facebook’s WhatsApp in India, which is under the world’s most expansive lockdown. The messaging app has about 400 million users in the country.The starting of the portal takes Ambani, Asia’s richest man, a step closer to his goal of setting up a digital platform to take on Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart in an e-commerce market that KPMG says is likely to grow to $200 billion (roughly Rs. 15.22 lakh crores) by 2027. Facebook has said it expects the partnership with JioMart will help make WhatsApp the primary way small businesses connect with customers.“The roll out is happening during the toughest of times considering the supply-chain constraints,” said Vikraman PN, senior consulting partner of Finnoviti Consulting. “But Reliance will spread the pilot run in various states following its deal with Facebook. And WhatsApp will play a critical role in JioMart’s expansion.”
