 "Reliance Retail's JioMart to deliver groceries in 30 mins from next month")
JioMart, which is the country’s largest grocer and retailer and belongs to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance group, will narrow its delivery time to 30 minutes as quick commerce gains traction.
It will start 30-minute delivery in the top eight metros next month and will scale it up to the top 20-30 cities, which is phase one of its quick delivery.
It will expand to the rest of the country, according to a source in the know.
Orders will be serviced from its network of stores, which stands at over 3,500.
However, the company is not planning to open dark stores and also doesn’t intend to get into the race of 10-15-20-minute delivery format.
Last year the company piloted 90-minute delivery under the JioMart Express format in Navi Mumbai.
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The source added the company had an understanding of integration of technology to hasten deliveries.
It is in the process of hiring more delivery associates and will partner a third-party EV bike logistics player to ramp-up deliveries.
Reliance Retail will use its own logistics company Grab to make sure deliveries reach customers in half an hour.
While it is starting 30 minutes with groceries, it may look at scaling it up to other categories like electronics and fashion as well, the source added.
Swiggy, Zepto, and Blinkit are the main players in quick commerce.
After the January-March quarter, the oil-to-telecom conglomerate said in its earnings release: “The platform launched new functionalities to enhance shopping experience including ‘Buy Again’ widget, customer rating for products and more.”
It said JioMart performed steadily during the quarter with expansion of its seller base, up 94 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and live selection up 32 per cent Y-o-Y.
It closed FY24 with 188,361 stores across formats and categories and its footfalls stood at 1,063 million.
Its gross revenue for FY24 was more than Rs 3 trillion, registering a growth rate of 17.8 per cent over last year while its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation for the previous financial year stood at Rs 23,040 crore, up by 28.5 per cent Y-o-Y.
Reliance Retail also said in its earnings release “investments in boosting supply chain infrastructure and omni channel capabilities remained a priority as business continues to deepen its presence in Tier-II towns and
beyond”.
NEW AVENUES
- The company does not intend to shorten its delivery time frame from 30 mins
- It will hire more delivery executives and also tie-up with a third party logistics player to meet delivery deadlines
- It will also use its own logistics company Grab
- Reliance Retail had tested 90 mins delivery format among its employees and select customers in Navi Mumbai