JioMart, the new face of India’s beloved kirana shops?

Jio, even a small kid in India knows this name. Such is the popularity of this brand and it truly deserved that. I remember those days when other telecom operators charging us 300 rupees per month just for 1 G.B of data. We all know what happened after Jio’s launch in Indian market. Data charges are controlled, Quality of data is much better, Availability of network is expanded, Penetration into rural areas is achieved and many more.

So now, what is this JioMart then?

JioMart is a Online-to-Offline business platform which connects Indian customers to their nearby kirana shops. This platform aims to provide 50,000+ grocery products at a competitive discounts and express delivery at your doorstep.

This JioMart will avoid the system of warehousing( practiced by Bigbasket, Grofers) and will partner with local retailers who will source the grocery products and JioMart will deliver it to the customers.

This ‘JioMart is coming as a branch from Jio platform’ whose parent organization is Reliance Industries. This new platform is gaining so much attention from the business world as it has the potential to become the face for ‘India’s beloved kirana shops’.

You don’t believe me regarding getting attention? Okay, see this..

Within span of one month, Jio platform got nearly 10 billion dollars invest from just 5 companies and one among them is Facebook whose share is nearly half of the total investment. We all know how effective is Facebook’s management in investing (They bought WhatsApp, Instagram, Oculus VR, LiveRail and many others). During his recent visit to India, Satya Nadella ,C.E.O of Microsoft also hinted at collaboration with Jio.

But, what exactly is the plan here?

E-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart(acquired by Walmart) have very deep pockets and advanced technological resources available for them. Unfortunately, small shop owners have neither of them. This ongoing battle ‘E-commerce giants Vs Small shops’ is very similar to ‘David Vs Goliath’. This is exactly where JioMart is coming giving power to our little ‘David’.

WhatsApp has 400 million users in India and its kind of monopoly in social media. But, e-commerce is something in which Facebook is completely null. They want to enter into this e-commerce business since so long but never had the opportunity as the market is already been dominated by giants. Another sector in which Facebook is completely null is online payment system in which Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, etc. are completely dominating. Rumour is that JioMart will use WhatsApp payment (you can see this option in attachments tab in your WhatsApp application, currently not available for all users) for their payment system. With this step, Facebook will have their foot in online payment also. This investment is very much crucial for Facebook, two birds with one shot.

Jio has over 320 million customers in India. They have half of India’s telecom network in their hands. But, again e-commerce is something in which Reliance Industries is near to null. They have tried their luck with reliance-retail, but we all know what happened to their attempt. Now, this failed reliance-retail can act as backend for the JioMart, their new attempt.

Silver Lake, Vista, General Atlantic, KKR are very big private equity firms with so much money in their pockets. They always wait for the right opportunity to invest their money.

Facebook(Technology)+Jio(Market Penetration)+Equity firms(Money).

Now, carefully observe this simple equation. For any company/product to became hit in the market, they need technology, market, money. Now again see the equation and tell me, isn’t it a brilliant plan?

Okay, they have everything needed to become a hit. Now, what’s in it for common people to show interest?

1. Free home delivery
2. No minimum value
3. Express delivery
4. No questions asked return policy
5. Discounts (we can already guess this)

Okay, now what’s in it for kirana shop owners to adapt JioMart?

1. More penetration into surrounding market.
2. Technological assistance to understand the demand of products
3. Ability to fight giants like Amazon, Flipkart indirectly
4. More profits with ‘more penetration and technological assistance’.
5. With each transaction information available, they can better understand the purchases of every unique customer and target them specifically.

Okay, now how is this good for Indian economy?

1. Millions of kirana shop owners will be happy whose support is needed for active and healthy markets across the country.
2. Hit of Indian e-commerce product, JioMart against Foreign e-commerce products like Amazon is a big economic booster.
3. Controlling dominance of foreign giants (Amazon) on Indian market.
4. Encouragement for other technological products will sky rocket.

Now, tell me…..

Why this JioMart can’t be the face for India’s beloved Kirana Shops?