Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of WhatsApp, said on Monday it will partner with Reliance JioMart for a service where WhatsApp users will buy groceries on the messaging platform from the Indian retail firm.
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer (CEO) of Meta Platforms, made the announcement coinciding with the annual general Meeting (AGM) 2022 of Reliance Industries Ltd., the parent company of JioMart. “[I am] Excited to launch our partnership with JioMart in India. This is our first-ever end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp–people can now buy groceries from JioMart right in a chat,” said Zuckerberg.
“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,” he said on Facebook.
A Reliance press statement said the service “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.”
Isha Ambani, director of Reliance Retail Ventures, said Reliance Digital strengthened the company’s own brands’ presence by launching several new products across categories.
Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, said, “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. One example of an innovative customer experience that we are proud of developing is the first-ever end-to-end shopping experience with JioMart on WhatsApp.”
“The JioMart on WhatsApp experience furthers our commitment to enabling a simple and convenient way of online shopping,” he said, according to the Reliance statement.