Reliance Jio, Meta roll out grocery shopping on WhatsApp

New Delhi: Mark Zuckerberg's Meta and its subsidiary Mukesh Ambani have completed the integration of the messaging platform WhatsApp and JioMart, which has been in operation for more than a year. The two companies announced a beta phase of the project last December, with Zuckerberg announcing its full implementation shortly after Jio's annual general meeting on Monday

JioMart is an online grocery delivery platform operated by Akash Ambani's Jio Platforms Ltd, while WhatsApp is an instant messaging platform owned by Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). WhatsApp has been operating the WhatsApp Business platform since last year, enabling commerce on the personal messaging platform. The integration of the two platforms has been in progress since Facebook acquired a 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms in April 2020 for Rs 43,574 crore. JioMart will now be available to all users through WhatsApp, where orders can be placed by contacting the service through the chat platform. Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Meta, said the integration is the "seamless first shopping experience on WhatsApp." "Business messaging is an area with real momentum and chat-based experiences like this will be the starting point for the way people and businesses communicate for years to come."

Haptik, a Jio-owned artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot platform, will handle JioMart's chats on WhatsApp.

JioMart launched its first WhatsApp demo in April 2020, offering its services through an in-app chat-based interface in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan districts of Maharashtra. Last December, the service officially launched the beta version, bringing the service to more regions of India.

With the latest announcement, JioMart will be available on WhatsApp across India. It will allow users to book orders and make payments directly from the chat platform.

A May 2022 Statista report says WhatsApp has more than 487 million users in India, while a January 2022 estimate pegs the country's monthly active user base at 390 million.

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