Feature Review - Reliance JioMart list feature
Reliance JioMart is an Indian online grocery delivery service, that soft-launched in December 2019. The joint venture between Reliance Retail and Jio Platforms was initially available only in selected areas of Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan in April 2020, but has since expanded to over 200 cities and towns across India. It saw over 10 Lakh downloads in the first few days, and has seen steady increases in usage.
By promising free home deliveries, express deliveries and user-friendly return policies, it stands as potentially strong competition to other online grocery delivery services, including Big Basket and Grofers, who already boast of a large market share. These services are used by people of all demographics, and have seen drastic spikes in use since the beginning of the pandemic. JioMart recently introduced an ordering via Whatsapp feature, which has been talked about far and wide and debated as a potential advantage over its competition, but another feature they introduced is also worth noticing, even if it is not as loudly announced.
What is this almost-hidden feature?
JioMart recently included a feature on the search bar which allows users to input a list of products for searching at once. This was probably intended as a way to make the searching process more efficient, and as a direct parallel to the real-world model where users would typically make a shopping list and then direct their attention to those specific things in the store. By minimizing the work and cognitive load that users experience when first using the app/website, this could actually be a welcome feature to many.
This is specifically relevant in the current scenario where the process of list making and then shopping for it in the real world has been reduced by the pandemic. Allowing users to imitate the same function would be a welcome change, and a more enhanced experience in simulating real world shopping experiences.
This is also a feature which has not been implemented in any of JioMart’s primary competitors, but whether this is an actual advantage is still unclear. Let’s try it out and see what we get!
Wait, where’s the feature?
The list feature is not prominently visible. Most users would not realize its importance or meaning, and it tends to get lost, since it is in the same place where the ‘search’ icon would usually be placed. A new feature would be better suited with more attention, and a strict labeling of its actual purpose. Moreover, the list icon MAY be a little hard to associate with a shopping list for non-tech savvy customers, even though they would be a strong part of their user base.
This could do with a more relevant icon, preferably one that represents the shopping list more, more descriptive label and prominent placing of the feature.
Let’s make a list…
This feels like a relevant concept, but the list view could be improved upon. Although multiple lines are provided, to simulate a list, users cannot effectively enter details on a line of their choice.
A more effective approach would have been to enter objects in an empty text box, with comma separators or by pressing enter after each input, or a numbered list when items are copy-pasted into the text field.
The input field is surprisingly small for a ‘list’, which would often be more than 5 single inputs. Users have to scroll through the content to actually see them, and have to manually count as well. Moreover, repetitive inputs are not highlighted. Input requirements are highly vague, people can enter almost any generic name, which is not ideal for initiating a list search. (Okay, let’s see how that works when we find the results.)
Numbering, a longer/larger list view, or one that expands based on the number of entries would help the case. There could be notifications when products are repeated, but this is low priority, since it does not have significant negative impact (Yet!)
Our list is complete. Let’s search!
Oh okay, it’s like this. This doesn’t drastically reduce any time or effort, users have to sift through all their products one-by-one anyway, and make a decision for each. They’ve just managed to search in one go.
This could definitely be improved upon if users are given more clear guidelines about the details to enter for their products. This would increase the search parameters for each product, and allow users to actually sift through a list view of 1–3 options per product, make their choices from A,B, or C, and checkout faster. That would also reduce the cognitive load of choosing from a list of options — hello Hicks law and decision paralysis!
Ah, it did not actually pick up on my little duplication game, which means Pasta has showed up twice. More importantly, when options are shown for 1 product, it disappears from this list and shows up as a bigger heading. Would it be more ideal to just highlight which one is being searched in the list itself, so users can sift through their list progressively? Removing the current item from the view means that users also lose their position in the list, not cool! The words also don’t look clickable at first glance, which has the potential to make this feature very redundant.
This could be fixed by making it more shopping-list-like, allowing users to go from 1 product to the next within the list, and showing that a product has been added to the cart by striking it out, or ticking them.
Tiny problem.
I can’t add any products because JioMart does not currently deliver to my area. JioMart, you didn’t ask me what my delivery address is! This is not my pin code!
There should have been a notification to users when they first visit the site that the pin code is a required input if it cannot be automatically picked up. A notification around the pin code area when this error occurs would also help, since there is a fair discourse between the pin code position and the error message which is at the bottom of the screen, irrespective of where the product is displayed.
Changed my pin code, this is finally working. I can also add/remove the NUMBER of units within this space, which is great. The available results also changed after changing the pincode.
Things are getting a little confusing.
Tell me what products I’m done adding! I have a small memory span, JioMart, just like every other human who can track some 7 bits of information (give or take 2) and will almost instantly forget irrelevant information. Clicking on the cart icon takes me to a whole different page, and there is no link back to the search results, so checking items already in the cart is a tedious process. Instead, tick or cross the added ones out like a person would do on a physical list or in their phone’s notes!
Once users have entered a list, they cannot actually add or remove items from them. They can only start a new search, or search individually, but cannot append to the ongoing list. There is no feedback about the fact that they will lose the searches so far if they attempt to add products or start a new search.
This could do with editable lists, adding to searches, the choice to have multiple lists going at once, maybe? If the intention was to make things more human-like, then these would all be valid options!
I accidentally closed the tab, and now we’re back to square one.
Apparently, if a user accidentally leaves the page, their progress with the list is lost. If they click on a different product halfway through making the list, progress is lost. If they move to their cart, there is no way to come back to the list. The bottom line is that the list feels like a fickle thing, which demands complete attention and will disappear, taking away all your hard work, if you deviate from it for even a minute. Moreover, even a logged in user’s list is not synced across their devices, although this would be very useful.
Combating this is easy: SAVE things! Save progress on the lists, allow them to be edited, sync and make them accessible across all of the devices that people might use for JioMart. And while we’re at it, JioMart, shopping is often collaborative. So let users share their lists as well!
Alright, that was interesting. The list concept is definitely exciting and shows huge potential for a good user experience, but at the moment, it falls short in most aspects.
Conceptually, a positive, but until it actually does its job, is more friendly to user needs and expectations, and performs as more than a glorified and very demanding search function, the list feature gets 2/5 stars.
Kustard.design is a top design company that helps organizations design digital products that keep users in mind, and are centered around providing them with the best features and smoothest experiences.
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