Reliance Retail is now eyeing the next big thing – delivery within an hour. Mukesh Ambani-helmed Reliance Industries’ retail arm is aiming for immediate delivery of products in certain areas within an hour. Meanwhile, the quick commerce ecosystem, dominated by the likes of Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto, is seeing orders getting fulfilled within 10 minutes. This pilot comes after Reliance shelved its quick-commerce pilot JioMart Express last year.
According to a report in The Economic Times, Reliance Retail has started the pilot of immediate delivery of groceries and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) products in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai areas. They are aiming to fulfill the delivery of orders within an hour.
The fast-delivery service of Reliance Retail has been integrated into the Jiomart mobile application as a ‘hyperlocal delivery’ option, the report added. Reliance would aim to reduce the hour-long delivery period to 30-45 minutes as more stores get linked into the system and the operation expands into other markets.
For now, Reliance’s shortest delivery time for orders of daily essentials go up to 12 hours, and some even to 3 days.
Reliance, instead of the delivery race that would indicate hiring a large fleet of delivery personnel, is looking to fulfill these orders from its store network and warehouses. In areas where Reliance’s stores are limited, it is planning to rope in kirana stores that have joined the JioMart Partner initiative.
According to the report, Reliance also has plans to go hyperlocal with apparel and electronic items at an advanced stage.
