Meta, Jio release shopping service on WhatsApp

Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, and India’s Reliance Jio Platforms announced on Monday the rollout of JioMart, an online shopping service on the messaging platform.

The global first service will enable shoppers to buy groceries from Reliance Retail on the popular messaging platform.

A joint statement by the tech giants said JioMart on WhatsApp will enable users in India, including those who have never shopped online before, to “seamlessly browse through JioMart’s entire grocery catalog, add items to cart and make the payment to complete the purchase – all without leaving the WhatsApp chat.”

“The launch is part of a strategic partnership between Meta and Jio Platforms to accelerate India’s digital transformation and provide people and businesses of all sizes opportunities to connect in new ways and fuel economic growth in the country,” said the statement.

"Excited to launch our partnership with JioMart in India,” Mark Zuckerberg, founder, and CEO of Meta, said in a Facebook post. “This is our first-ever end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp -- people can now buy groceries from JioMart right in a chat. Business messaging is an area with real momentum and chat-based experiences like this will be the go-to way people and businesses communicate in the years to come," said Zuckerberg.

Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, said the vision behind the new service is to propel India into the world’s leading digital society.

“When Jio platforms and Meta announced our partnership in 2020, Mark and I shared a vision of bringing more people and businesses online and creating truly innovative solutions that will add convenience to the daily lives of every Indian,” said Ambani.

in April 2020, Facebook announced an investment of $5.7 billion to buy a 9.99 per cent stake in Jio Platforms, which houses India's youngest but largest telecom firm Jio and apps. Jio Platforms had raised billions of dollars from 13 investors, also including Google, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG, L Catterton, among others, for a total 32.9 per cent stake.

Ambani said one example of an innovative customer experience is the first-ever end-to-end shopping experience with JioMart on WhatsApp. “The JioMart on WhatsApp experience furthers our commitment of enabling a simple and convenient way of online shopping to millions of Indians,” the Indian tycoon said in the statement.

The JioMart on WhatsApp experience will revolutionise the way millions of businesses across the country connect with their consumers while bringing unparalleled simplicity and convenience to people's shopping experience," the joint statement said.

Speaking at the 45th AGM of Reliance Industries, Isha Ambani gave a presentation on placing online grocery orders using WhatsApp and making payments.