JioMart, the digital commerce division of Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), announced on October 17 that it had extended “quick” deliveries to over 1,000 cities. Alongside its Q2 FY26 results, RRVL released a statement stating that its “quick” delivery operations now cover more than 5,000 pincodes overall.
JioMart’s approach to rapid commerce involves orders being delivered in less than 30 minutes, in contrast to competitors like Blinkit, Instamart, and Zepto that deliver within 10 minutes. With operations spanning 5,000 pin codes and served by over 3,000 outlets in more than 1,000 locations, JioMart is the fastest-growing quick hyper-local commerce platform, according to a statement from RRVL.
Based on this, the conglomerate reported that JioMart’s average daily orders for its 30-minute delivery service increased by 200%+ YoY and 42% QoQ. According to JioMart, the platform’s seller base increased 20% YoY during the reviewed quarter, and it attracted 58 lakh new customers overall in Q2 FY26, up 120% QoQ.
JioMart reported that AJIO Rush, its newly introduced four-hour online clothing delivery service, is currently available in 300 pincodes. The business also stated that “AJIO Rush gained significant traction and was live in over 300 pin codes across the top 6 cities.” It is important to remember that in the first quarter of FY26, AJIO Rush was introduced in six cities. In the meantime, the retail behemoth supported by Reliance said that the rapid clothing service outperformed regular AJIO orders in terms of conversion rates, average selling price, and returns.
According to a statement from RRVL, the service produced better outcomes than the platform average, including a 16% increase in average selling price (ASP), a 17% improvement in conversion rates, and a 500 basis point decrease in sales returns. At the end of Q2 FY26, Shein, which Reliance relaunched in India earlier this year, had more than 25,000 options, over 6 million app downloads, and 11.4 million monthly active users (MAU).
Reliance Retail’s outstanding performance during the quarter was driven by our unwavering commitment to operational excellence, investments in stores and digital platforms, and festive shopping across consumption baskets, according to RRVL executive director Isha Ambani’s statement to the media. As consumers benefit from cheaper prices, adjustments in the GST rate will further stimulate the rise of spending.
Financial Dynamics of Reliance Retail
Overall, Reliance Retail’s net profit increased from INR 2,836 Cr in the previous quarter to INR 3,457 Cr in Q2 FY26, a 21.9% increase. Additionally, revenue from operations increased by 19% to INR 79,128 Cr in the reviewed quarter from INR 66,502 Cr in the second quarter of FY25.
However, the digital streaming division of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) had a mixed quarter. In Q2 of FY26, JioHotstar averaged about 40 Cr monthly active users, up from an average of 46 Cr MAUs in the previous quarter. This was mostly caused by the OTT platform’s post-IPL slowness. Consolidated net profit for Jio Platforms, RIL’s digital division, increased 13% to INR 7,379 Cr in Q2 FY26 from INR 6,539 Cr in the same quarter last year.
From INR 31,709 Cr in Q2 FY25 to INR 36,332 Cr in the reviewed quarter, operating revenue increased by 15%. During the reviewed quarter, RIL’s net profit increased 16% YoY to INR 22,146 Cr, while its gross revenue increased 10% YoY to INR 2.83 Lakh Cr.
Quick Shots
•Reliance
Retail’s JioMart has extended its “quick” delivery service to 1,000+ cities,
covering over 5,000 pincodes across India.
•Unlike
10-minute rivals (Blinkit, Zepto, Instamart), JioMart delivers within 30
minutes, focusing on reliability and reach.
•JioMart’s
daily orders surged 200% YoY and 42% QoQ, reflecting strong adoption of its
quick delivery model.
•Platform’s seller network grew 20%
YoY, adding 58 lakh new customers in Q2 FY26, up 120% QoQ.
When it comes to the Indian business arena, one simply cannot ignore Mr. Mukesh Ambani—the owner of Reliance Industries, and the wealthiest businessman in India. He has footprints in some of the most important sectors of the Indian economy such as refining, oil & gas, petrochemicals, telecom, retail, and media. Reliance’s oil refining business has been its crown jewel to date.
In September 2016, Mukesh Ambani officially launched his telecommunication venture called Jio (Joint Implementation Opportunities) and set an example by turning Jio into the largest mobile network in India and the third-largest mobile network operator in the world with over 477.94 million subscribers as of November 2024. Witnessing the growth in revenues, profits, and market share in the above-mentioned sectors, Mukesh Ambani is now all set to try his hand at e-commerce through his new venture called JioMart. So what exactly is JioMart all about?
JioMart is an online grocery store that provides 50,000+ grocery products at discounted rates at your doorstep through an express delivery system. Itfollows an on-demand model. The company will avoid the system of warehousing and partner with local retailers instead. These retailers will source the grocery products and deliver them to the customers.
JioMart began functioning in January 2020 and is available in over 200 cities and towns across India, including Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru, Jaipur, and Trivandrum.
JioMart’s app is available for download on Google Play Store and Apple Store.
JioMart will operate on the online-to-offline business model; it will connect with local retailers and deliver goods to customers by procuring them from the nearest store located in the customer’s vicinity. This model is unlike the warehouse model used by Grofers and Amazon Now.
The company wants to correct the unorganized retail sector and help local shopkeepers whose businesses were adversely affected due to competitive pricing and warehousing strategies of online retail stores. In addition to increased sales and margins, these shopkeepers will be equipped with point-of-sale (PoS) terminals, integrated billing applications, and GST compliance. It will also upskill them in inventory management and supply chain management.
RIL wants to establish its new venture, termed ‘Desh Ki Nayi Dukaan’, in this manner.
JioMart claims to offer the following consumer-friendly services:
Free home delivery: It will give you the benefit of delivery of commodities at your doorstep by procuring it from the nearby store, and that too free of cost, which your ‘Kirane wala bhaiya’ may not.
No minimum value: Generally, e-commerce sites set up a minimum value of a purchase to validate free delivery. For example, Grofers has a policy of free delivery on a minimum purchase of INR 500. JioMart will not expect a ‘minimum payment’ and abstain from delivery charges, even for the smallest of items ordered.
Express delivery: Express delivery means quicker delivery than ordinary services. In the e-commerce segment, it is generally within 24 hours.
No questions asked return policy: When you wish to return the goods that you ordered online, you are almost always bombarded with unnecessary questions. And most of the time, they cannot avoided. JioMart will save you this hassle.
Early bird discount of INR 3000: The platform has come up with a promotional strategy of pre-registration wherein people can save up to Rs 3000 on future shopping. Reliance Jio has started sending invites to its existing telecom service users in selected areas.
AI-Powered Inventory Management: JioMart leverages artificial intelligence to monitor inventory in real-time, ensuring better product availability and faster deliveries, eliminating the hassle of out-of-stock items.
Hyperlocal Approach: JioMart expanded beyond major cities by partnering with local kirana shops, reaching the core of India to ensure quick deliveries, no matter the location.
JioMart wasn’t an overnight expedition of Mukesh Ambani but a well-assessed move with the sole motive of capturing the highly sought-after e-commerce segment.
Mukesh Ambani already has a formidable customer base in the retail sector with Reliance Fresh which functions successfully on the brick-and-mortar model. JioMart owner Mukesh Ambani’s plan to set up an e-commerce platform goes back to 2019. His ambitious project emulates his desire to compete with global e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart.
Reliance acquires Grab A Grub and C-Square
Acquisition of Grab A Grub: Grab A Grub is an Indian logistics startup founded in 2013. In March 2019, Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited (RIIHL) acquired it for $14.9 million to support the logistics of Jio Mart founder Mukesh Ambani’s ‘planned e-commerce venture’. Grab was chosen because it worked successfully with some mega-brands such as McDonald’s, BigBasket, Myntra, Amazon Now, and Swiggy.
Acquisition of C-Square: C-Square Info Solutions Private Limited, founded in 2002, provides software solutions for verticals like e-commerce, salesforce, retail, etc. It was acquired by RIIHL in March 2019 for $11.56 million. A strategic move by RIL, it was aimed to strengthen JioMart.
JioMart – Business Model and Revenue Model
RIL is offering local merchants an O2O (online-to-offline) marketplace through JioMart. This business model was pioneered by the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Under the O2O model, a consumer searches for the product or service online but buys it through an offline channel.
JioMart, Reliance Retail’s e-commerce platform, has tripled its number of sellers compared to 2023, as shared in its December 2024 quarter results. While groceries remain its main focus, JioMart is now working to increase its share of non-grocery items.
It connects with local retailers and delivers goods to the customers by procuring them from the nearest store located in the customer’s locality. The customer will use his or her official WhatsApp number to place the order. Post confirmation, the user will receive the bill which is to be paid in cash. When the store is ready with the order, the customer will receive a notification to pick up the order from the store.
A retailer can register with JioMart to become a seller. After registering with JioMart, retailers will receive the required support for the smooth delivery of goods to customers.
Registered grocery store owners will be able to list their inventories, take orders, create offers, and manage online sales using the app. JioMart will ensure that the sellers associated with its platform get a smooth selling experience.
How JioMart Consumers and Retailers Benefitted from the Jio-Facebook Deal
The Jio-Facebook deal, wherein Facebook invested INR 43,574 crore ($5.7 billion) in Jio platforms, made lives easier for the consumers and retailers associated with JioMart. As part of this deal, WhatsApp – Facebook’s popular messaging platform collaborated with JioMart. Owing to this collaboration, JioMart users can place their order through WhatsApp and Facebook while payments can be made using the ‘WhatsApp Pay’ feature.
JioMart services have been made available on WhatsApp from 25 April 2020 in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan. JioMart is currently operating in these three cities only. However, the only mode of payment currently available is cash.
“In the very near future, JioMart – Jio’s digital new commerce platform, and Whatsapp – will empower nearly 3 crore small Indian Kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood”- Mukesh Ambani said, CEO, Jio Mart.
Grocery delivery startups like Blinkit (formerly Grofers), Big Basket, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart have seen remarkable success in recent years, driven by significant funding and rapid revenue growth. Recognizing the market’s potential, major e-commerce players like Amazon have also entered the grocery and essentials delivery space.
With the entry of the biggest player in the Indian market, a serious threat looms over existing grocery delivery ventures. Besides being a popular brand name, JioMart has some features that lend it an upper hand over its competitors.
The company plans to deliver orders in 30 minutes as quick commerce grows popular.
Next month in December 2024, it will start 30-minute delivery in the top eight metros and later expand to 20-30 cities in phase one. Eventually, it will cover the rest of the country.
Deliveries will be managed through its 3,500+ stores. However, JioMart won’t open dark stores or compete in the 10-20 minute delivery race.
Conclusion
When Jio entered the telecom segment, it stirred a revolution and turned the tables. Big shots like Airtel and Vodafone who dominated for years were sent tumbling. A potential revolution is on the cards again because of Reliance’s JioMart. JioMart’s business model showcases its ambition to dominate India’s e-commerce space by expanding Reliance’s vast retail network, focusing on groceries, and steadily focusing on quick commerce, making it a key player in the digital commerce ecosystem.
FAQs
What is JioMart?
JioMart is Reliance Retail’s e-commerce platform offering groceries, essentials, and other products online.
What is JioMart’s business model?
RIL is offering local merchants an O2O (online-to-offline) marketplace through JioMart. This business model was pioneered by the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Under the O2O model, a consumer searches for the product or service online but buys it through an offline channel.
Who is JioMart founder?
Mukesh Ambani is the owner of JioMart.
Does JioMart charge for delivery?
JioMart charges a delivery fee for orders under INR 250, but not for orders over INR 250 or new customers’ first three orders.
When was JioMart launched in India?
Jiomart was initially soft-launched in 2019. It was fully launched in May 2020 in 200 cities in India.
Reliance Industries is not unknown to the people of India and of the world now. Founded in May 1973, Reliance Industries is headquartered in Mumbai.
It was a landmark step when Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited was launched after Reliance Industries bought a majority stake in Infotel Broadband Services Limited (IBSL). This made the telecommunication sector of Reliance run like never before.
JioMart resulted when Reliance Industries converged with Jio Platforms, the parent of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, which does its business as Jio.
The JioMart services were initially soft-launched in December 2019, and then launched in the selected areas of Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Kalyan in April 2020. These services were eventually expanded to over 200 towns across the country, after it was fully launched in May 2020.
The latest venture by Mukesh Ambani has offered grocery delivery at the doorstep amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak. It continues to help the users procure groceries and numerous other products from a wide range of categories including fashion, home essentials, lifestyle products, and more, which it expanded to ever since it was established.
JioMart currently competes with other prominent grocery delivery services like Amazon, Flipkart, and Big Basket in India.
JioMart, Reliance Jio’s shopping portal, is now open for orders altogether metros and places like Mysuru, Visakhapatnam, Coimbatore, Dehradun, and Bhatinda where consumers can place the order for the required grocery.
JioMart is currently growing in its sales through local kiranas that it keeps on onboarding on its platform, alongside servicing orders via its Reliance Fresh and Smart stores. Furthermore, it is also open with distribution centers in areas where orders through kiranas aren’t serviceable.
JioMart delivers a good range of products including fruits, vegetables, groceries, bakery products, beverages, household products, packaged food, and more. The JioMart website is jiomart.com.
This Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail-powered platform operates through neighbourhood stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets, wholesale and online stores. The company integrated its registered customer database from Reliance Fresh, Reliance Smart and other retail businesses into JioMart.
JioMart said the following in a statement- “We offer you the convenience of shopping everything that you need for your home – be it fresh fruits & vegetables, rice, dals, oil, packaged food, dairy item, frozen, pet food, household cleaning items & personal care products from a single virtual store.”
The chief executive of grocery retail at Reliance Retail, Damodar Mall tweeted, “Never waste a crisis, they say! Big town or small, JioMart delivers in over 200 towns. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (BABA) “flourished” during the 2003 SARS pandemWe seek similar opportunities by fulfilling the requirements during these tough times”.
JioMart | Desh ki Nayi Dukan
JioMart – Industry
Indian Online Food and Grocery Market Growth
JioMart belongs to the online food and grocery industry. This industry has grown from 2013-2018 at a CAGR of 71.2%, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 45.5% between 2018-2023.
JioMart – Growth
JioMart has certainly been a successful pilot and has grown well throughout these couple of years. Some of the major growth highlights of JioMart are:
JioMart witnessed a 3X increase in its merchant base in its grocery delivery vertical in the Q4 FY2021.
It expanded services to 10 new cities during the same fiscal
JioMart sees strong traction from Tier 3 cities and beyond
The company has seen a 3X growth in its order frequencies
JioMart has already onboarded over 300K merchants including kiranas and small merchants
Served over 1 mn customers, as reported on January 26, 2021
JioMart continues to scale up. It achieved a 3X growth in product assortment, 1.5X growth in order frequency, and has grown by 20% growth in average basket value (ABV).
The ecommerce platform also witnessed an 80% repeat order growth in Q4 FY2021
JioMart is also available on WhatsApp, on which the users can place orders for their groceries and other necessities.
JioMart Express
JioMart has launched JioMart Express in view of foraying into the popular quick commerce space in June 2022. The platform was piloted in Navi Mumbai and currently spans over 3K+ SKUs, which includes groceries, and personal and home care products.
Though the quick commerce wing of JioMart and how it operates is not quite clear now, with some reports claiming that it is using Dunzo’s delivery fleet and local kirana stores as hyperlocal hubs, and others suggest that the Reliance Retail stores, the business is gaining popularity fast.
JioMart Express is currently looking to expand its services to 200+ cities by the next fiscal. This new business of Reliance Retail and Jio will soon be operating in several other categories like medicines as well as small electronic products including smartphones.
Benefits of JioMart Express
Quick commerce delivery, which is fast becoming the trend with the likes of Zepto, Blinkit, Dunzo, Swiggy Instamart, and more, is springing numerous players from across industries, and this finally got to Reliance which is already one of the powerful names in a range of industries. This eventually led to the launch of JioMart Express. This quick commerce wing of JioMart will certainly be effective for the users in many ways. Here’s a look at the benefits of JioMart Express:
Express 90 minutes delivery
3000+ grocery and essentials
No minimum order value
Numerous discount coupons and other options
Quality of Reliance
Redemption of points
Flexible online payments
JioMart – Partnerships
Facebook Inc. (now known as Meta) bought a 9.99% stake for $5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) in Reliance Industries’ digital unit, Jio Platforms, on April 22, 2020. That partnership helped Reliance roll out its service for India’s grocers and little businesses by using India’s 400 million strong user base for Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service. Three days after the deal, JioMart made its service live online via WhatsApp.
JioMart mainly partners with a huge collection of local kirana stores that helps the platform grow. It has also partnered with numerous UPI platforms to make the payment journeys easy for the customers.
ePayLater collaborated with JioMart on August 3, 2022, which will help the platform offer line of credit to its B2B customers. This is the last partnership that JioMart saw.
JioMart – Logo and Tagline
JIoMart Logo
While mentioning JioMart, Mukesh Ambani, the head honcho of Reliance, said “Customer aapka, Support humara”, which means that JioMart will extend enormous support to the local vendors and kirana owners.
JioMart – Business and Revenue Model
JioMart operates in an O2O (offline to offline) business model. With JioMart the local kiranas and vendors will receive orders online, which will be delivered as per the latest time slots. The JioMart business model brings the trio – producers, customers and the kiranas together under the same platform.
First of all, the Kirana owners should register. After applying for JioMart Kirana registration, JioMart will help those Kirana stores to make their Kirana shop go digital to receive orders via WhatsApp. Once the order is placed by the Kirana stores then a confirmation message is sent to the user to pick up the order from the store.
The JioMart app is available on Apple and Google Play Store. JioMart is currently available as a mobile and desktop website. The services of JioMart can also be availed via Facebook-owned instant messaging app WhatsApp.
To check if JioMart’s service is open in your location or not, you need to enter your pin code in the ‘Delivering to’ field on the website. If you get a green signal, it means the service is there in your area. Otherwise, a message in red appears, “We are currently not available at this location. Stay tuned!”
The ‘search with list’option is the handiest feature of this site. You can simply paste or write the entire product list in this section instead of searching one by one. The website will search for the products sequentially for you. You need to place your choice in the cart.
To place an order, one needs to log on to jiomart.com. If the order value is less than ₹750, a nominal delivery fee of ₹25 will be added. Above an order value of ₹750, JioMart offers free delivery. The customer can pay either online or offline.
JioMart – Payment and Delivery Options
Jio has integrated many payment options such as e-wallets and UPI on the website. The company has incorporated almost all kinds of payment methods. Various e-wallets like Paytm, PhonePe, JioMoney, Google Pay, and MobiKwikare also supported. The website has a Net Banking option along with the Credit/Debit card provisions. If not online, one can also go for cash on delivery (COD).
One of the things that the users might find inconvenient is that JioMart does not offer same-day delivery. The orders are generally delivered within two days. If there happens to be a lockdown or if similar strictures are imposed, the delivery time may get extended in some cases. However, this would be solved with JioMart Express, which is the quick commerce arm of JioMart.
Some improvements are required like changes to the searching process. The problem is that a particular product might be named differently according to the local language, which can hamper the search for that product. The search algorithm needs to detect such discrepancies. Otherwise, the website cannot cater to different customer requirements.
JioMart – How will it affect Competitors?
JioMart, promoted as ‘Desh ki Nayi Dukan’, offers free express grocery delivery from neighborhood grocery or Kirana stores. JioMart’s launch comes as India is witnessing an increase in coronavirus cases. Officials have said that the product catalog on JioMart’s website will be expanded once the lockdown restrictions are lifted. JioMart will then work at its full capacity.
JioMart is undoubtedly a tough competitor to other online grocery shops like BigBasket and Grofers (now Blinkit). JioMart offers fresh food, pulses, packaged food, household cleaning items, pet food, and other categories of products on its website. It is all set to take on the big players such as BigBasket, Blinkit, Amazon Fresh and Pantry, and Flipkart’s Supermart.
Amazon (AMZN) and Walmart-owned (WMT) Flipkart are the two dominant e-commerce platforms in India. Both companies operate in hundreds of cities across the country. They deliver goods such as smartphones, electronics, and clothing. Both companies also launched online grocery deliveries last year. JioMart’s launch is a reason for worry for Amazon and Flipkart because they are not very strong in the grocery segment.
JioMart’s expansion also comes as millions of Indians remain under lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon and Flipkart have also faced difficulty delivering orders across India during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is due to the restrictions imposed on traveling from one city to another. The lockdown required the company to accelerate expansion plans with increasing warehouse capacities.
Due to the lockdown imposed in India, Flipkart temporarily suspended services and Amazon had to limit orders as it responded to increased demand. Despite the various complexities and challenges of zonal restrictions and supply chain disruption, Flipkart and other e-commerce companies have worked to deliver essential goods while considering the safety of their employees. It will pose a formidable challenge to local rivals who are also betting big on groceries for their growth.
According to investment research firm Bernstein, grocery constitutes 70% of the Indian retail market. More than 90% of the market is unorganized and driven by kirana stores. The overall retail market is expected to double in size from $676 billion in 2018 to nearly $1.3 trillion by 2025, according to Bernstein.
According to Forrester, India’s online grocery market is small by comparison and worth around $3 billion this year. But the firm says that the number is growing fast as the pandemic changes people’s shopping habits. JioMart was launched in December last year with the goal of connecting 3 crore kiranas or grocery stores with local consumers online.
Reliance is on a fundraising spree through Jio Platforms, which includes the telecom venture Jio Infocomm. It has raised a massive $10 billion from investors including Facebook, KKR, and General Atlantic in a month. JioMart is selling shares worth $7 billion (around Rs. 53,000 crores).
Bernstein and Forrester’s analysts say JioMart is well placed to disrupt the online grocery market because it can source supplies from Reliance’s brick-and-mortar stores. Reliance is India’s largest retail operator. If JioMart manages to get kiranas online and organized, it will also have a hyper-local supply and logistics chain that can be used to meet the demand.
Conclusion
Competitions are everywhere. In order to survive in the market, the companies should keep improving, provide better options, should solve problems, and keep thriving to become better than its competitor.
The platform is certainly one of the most revolutionary approaches of Reliance that has already helped numerous users across the country, who now have an access to a majority of all that they might want including groceries and essentials. JioMart is a blessing in disguise for the Kirana owners.
Reliance’s JioMart has already roped in over 300K Kirana stores and local vendors/merchants across the country and is planning to increase the number rapidly across India. Later the company is planning to make these stores JioMart franchises to source products directly from Reliance retails and make them fully digital. All the orders can be fulfilled by the local Kirana stores.
FAQs
How do I shop from JioMart?
Download the JioMart App & Register with your Mobile Number. Login – Select City, Enter Pin code. Select from a wide range of categories to choose from. Add items to cart, complete payment & check out.
How JioMart will work?
JioMart is essentially an aggregator between customers and nearby stores, in a similar way that other online delivery aggregators work. This saves JioMart from separately acquiring customers on its platform, which is a key barrier when a new app or a service is launched.
What is the minimum order for JioMart?
Initially, JioMart required a minimumorder value of Rs 750 for free delivery. Existing players like Alibaba-backed Bigbasket, Amazon India, or Flipkart typically require upwards of Rs 600 order size for free delivery.
Is JioMart available in Vizag?
Reliance’s online shopping portal, JioMart, is now open for orders in 200 cities including all metros and places such as Mysuru, Visakhapatnam, Coimbatore, Dehradun, and Bhatinda.
Is JioMart available on Whatsapp?
After JioMart partnered with Facebook-owned Whatsapp, the platform now offers the users the facilities of ordering their groceries and essentials as per their requirements via the Whatsapp platform itself.
In April 2020, Reliance Industries Ltd launched JioMart, an e-commerce website on the Jio platform. JioMart is an online grocery shop that delivers 50,000+ grocery items at a discount to your home via a fast delivery system. It is based on a demand-driven model. The website began operations in Thane, Kalyan and Navi Mumbai and eventually expanded throughout India. Customers responded positively to the service, and the firm is currently expanding its presence in other Indian cities and villages. JioMart has developed a digital pan-India infrastructure in collaboration with local Kirana stores and its retail outlets.
Instead of employing a warehouse infrastructure, the firm works with local shops. The grocery goods are sourced by these shops and delivered to the customers.
Reliance plans to compete with existing grocery platforms in India, such as Swiggy, BigBasket, Zomato, Grofers, and others, via JioMart. Some interesting facts regarding the e-commerce platform are listed below.
JioMart, unlike its competitors Flipkart and Amazon, does not stock its items in massive warehouses. To supply merchandise, they have partnered with local retailers or Kirana stores.
Jiomart Selling Platforms
JioMart Grocery Shopping Platform
Fresh fruits and vegetables, groceries, snacks, drinks, home & household basics, beauty & hygiene, and infant care are just a few of the supermarket items available at JioMart.
You may purchase and order things using the Jiomart website and app. Previously, Jiomart teamed with Mark Zuckerberg through Facebook-owned WhatsApp, and the two companies joined together to improve JioMart’s service and reach out to WhatsApp customers. Users may submit orders over Whatsapp, which would make it easier for clients who are not comfortable using digital platforms to shop from JioMart. As a result, the service became much more user-friendly.
How Does Jiomart Work With Retailers?
Jiomart links with local businesses and delivers items to clients by obtaining them from the closest store in the customer’s neighbourhood. To place the order, the consumer will utilise their official WhatsApp number.
The user will get a bill that must be paid in cash after confirmation. When the order is ready, the client will be notified and instructed to pick up the order from the store.
Any retailer can easily be a seller at JioMart. To become a vendor on JioMart, a retailer must first register. Store owners may use the JioMart app to display their inventory, take orders, make deals, and manage online sales after registering. JioMart would make sure that vendors using its platform have a pleasant selling experience. Retailers will be provided with the necessary assistance to ensure that items are delivered to customers promptly.
Why Is Jiomart Such a Strong Competitor?
In comparison to competitors such as Amazon, Jiomart provides lower costs to merchants and has a significantly greater portion of the distribution pie. JioMart, unlike other e-commerce platforms, works with small businesses. It serves as a distributor, distributing items to merchants and fulfilling orders for JioMart through its small shop network.
JioMart presently delivers 250,000 orders every day, and the e-commerce site has ambitions to expand into electronics and other categories shortly. At the moment, JioMart is offering all food goods at a discount of 5% off the MRP. It is even less expensive than Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, and Swiggy. JioMart also provides a larger selection of items than other e-commerce sites and no order limits.
The firm has a 5% organised segment share in fashion retail, which is more than 50% greater than competitors like Aditya Birla Fashion (ABFRL).
Jiomart’s Features
Every e-commerce site has a minimum order requirement to qualify for free delivery. However, Jiomart has no such need. According to the firm, there is no minimum order for free home delivery. The firm plans to deliver orders placed on Jiomart within one to two hours, with large purchases arriving the same day or the following day. Every product on JioMart has a minimum discount of 5% and can go up to a maximum value of 50%.
The firm should accept things returned without inquiry, making the service more customer-friendly.
Mukesh Ambani’s Jiomart Aims
JioMart was not an impulsive action by Mukesh Ambani but rather a well-thought-out strategy to grab the lucrative e-commerce market. By 2021, the domain is expected to be worth $1.2 trillion. His superb effort reflects his aim to compete with global e-commerce behemoths like Amazon and Flipkart, controlled by Walmart.
Jiomart Supported through Reliance Aquisitions
Reliance Acquisition Supported JioMart
In 2019, JioMart was supported by the Reliance acquisitions of Grab A Grub and C-Square.
Grab A Grub is a logistics firm based in India that was formed in 2013. It was purchased for $14.9 million in March 2019 by Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited to assist Jio Mart logistics. Grab was selected because it has a track record of success with mega-brands, including McDonald’s, BigBasket, Myntra, Amazon Now, and Swiggy.
C-Square Info Solutions Private Limited, created in 2002, offers software solutions for e-commerce, retail, salesforce, and other industries. RIIHL purchased it in March 2019 for $11.56 million. RIL made this strategic decision to boost JioMart’s business strategy.
Jiomart’s Business Strategy
The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd pioneered Jiomart’s business strategy. It offers online to offline model (O2O). A user looks for a product or service online but purchases it through an offline channel under the O2O model.
Jiomart’s Competitors
Because of its massive success, Ambani’s Jio cellular service pushed a lot of other cellular networks on the verge of going out of business. This might be the case for Ambani’s current endeavour, as well as all of its competitors.
JioMart may have Amazon and Flipkart on its radar, but in its current form, the firm will be a bigger nuisance for Grofers and BigBasket, India’s leading grocery delivery companies- Swiggy and Zomato, too, have just entered the grocery delivery market in India.
Conclusion
With the advent of the largest player in the Indian industry, incumbent grocery delivery businesses face a major challenge. JioMart has various advantages over its competitors, in addition to having a well-known brand name.
Jio’s entry into the telecom industry sparked a revolution and changed the tables. Big names like Airtel and Vodafone, who had ruled for years, were knocked off their perches. It remains to be seen if Jio will be the market leader in online grocery delivery.
FAQs
Who is the founder of JioMart?
JioMart is a product of Reliance Industries, owned by Mukesh Ambani.
When was JioMart launched?
JioMart was launched in areas near Mumbai in April 2020. It was successfully launched in 200 cities in May 2020.
Can non Jio users use JioMart?
Yes, JioMart can be used by non Jio customers.
What is JioMart model?
JioMart works as O2O model (Online to Offline model) where users can order online and order gets delivered offline.
In the year 2019, Reliance Industries launched their own online groceries ordering website called JioMart, this was meant to be an alternative for the other grocery websites like BigBasket which is a well-established company in the market for the last few years. BigBasket has the experience and expertise of almost a decade, while JioMart launched in 2019 is already gaining users rapidly.
However JioMart has an added advantage which is pricing, JioMart offers a flat 5% minimum discount on MRP on all their products which is pretty similar to DMart’s model, this model helped DMart become an overnight success story in India with their malls being found left, right and center in most Indian cities today. Hence why, Mukesh Ambani’s digital grocery JioMart is scaling at a pace for its competitors to take a very hard look at their ventures.
JioMart is currently receiving orders at 250,000 per day. At the same time, the old players in the market such as Big Basket is receiving 220,000 per day respectively during the coronavirus induced nationwide lockdown, Bigbasket however has seen per day orders to rise around 190,000 and 300,000 levels respectively. JioMart operates in 200 cities, while Big Basket operates inly in 30 cities.
Big Basket is one of the largest online grocery super market in India. The company was founded in 2011 by Hari Menon, VS Sudharkar, VS Ramesh, Vipul Parekh and Abhinav Choudari. It is headquartered in Bengaluru and operates in 30 cities in India. Big Basket offers variety of products such as fresh fruits, vegetable, food grains, oil, masala, poultry and meat, packaged snacks, beverages household supplies including healthcare products.
It has more than 20,000 different from 1000 different brands across its catalog. The valuation of the company is 1.8 billion, reaching the unicorn status. Bigbasket has revenue of around $3.2 million and approximately 4,000 employees. It delivers to various cities in India such as Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Delhi, Noida, Mysore, Coimbatore, Vijayawada, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Gurgaon, Vadodara, Vizag, Surat, Nagpur, Patna, Indore, Chandigarh, etc.
Big basket was launched at a time when India’s urban workforce in cities was finding it difficult to allocate time to buy groceries and home essentials. Bigbasket gave its customers a flexibility to place their order anytime and get the things delivered at their preferred time. Bigbasket comes with the promise of having low prices and prompt delivery services.
The logos of bigbasket and jiomart
A brief about JioMart
JioMart is an Indian online grocery delivery service, started as a joint venture between Reliance Retail and Jio platforms. JioMart delivery grocery and daily essential from nearby stores. The platform was soft launched in December 2019. A pilot was launched in selected areas of Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan in April 2020. In May 2020, Jiomart launched in 200 cities and towns in India.
Within a few days of its launch the JioMart Applicationcrossed 1 million downloads. In October 2020, JioMart signed an agreement with Infibeam Avenues. JioMart is an online selling channel format of Reliance Retail Limited. We offer you convenience of shopping everything that you need for your home. The website sells products like fresh fruits and vegetables, cereals, packaged food, bakery and dairy, frozen and pet food, household cleaning items to your specialized beauty and personal care products from a single virtual store.
JioMart is an online grocery store that provides 50,000 plus grocery products at discounts rates at your doorstep through an express delivery system. The company follows the on-demand model. JioMart also avoids using the system of warehousing and partner with local retailers instead. These retailers will source the grocery products and deliver it to the customers. JioMart’s app is available for download on Google Play Store and Apple Store.
BigBasket has over 10 million customers. While the companies target audience is the working people, students and old people who don’t have the energy to go to grocery stores or to even stand in lines and buy the necessary products. Big basket helps people to browse through a huge variety of quality grocery items. Big basket helps these people to browse through a huge variety of quality grocery items.
BigBasket home page
When the customers can order the required products which will be delivery within 90 minutes for express delivery or next morning for slotted delivery. There are three types of delivery systems which are
Slotted delivery: Customers can pick a convenient slot when they want their purchase to be delivery.
Express delivery: This service can be availed by customers in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Delhi NCR. Delivery will be done within 90 minutes
The company has BB specialty stores: Big Basket has partnership with specialty stores like Karachi bakery. Customers can request a product from the store which will be delivered within 90 minutes. Big basket has acquired 100% stakes in milk delivery ventures Raincan and morningcart. The milk delivery service was branded as BB daily where customers can get milk delivered to their home in the morning everyday through subscribing for a fee.
JioMart will operate on the online to offline business model, it will connect with the local retailers and deliver goods to customers by procuring then from the nearest store located in the customer’s vicinity. This is unlike Grofers and BigBasket that use warehouse model. JioMart helps the correct the unorganized retail sector and help local shopkeepers whose businesses were adversely affected due to competitive pricing and warehousing strategies of online retail stores.
JioMart home page
In addition to increased sales and margins, these shopkeepers will be equipped with point of sale (PoS) terminals, integrated billing applications, and GST compliance. It will also upskill them in inventory management and supply chain management. The types of delivery services provided by JioMart are:
Free home delivery: It will give you the benefit of delivery of commodities at your doorstep by producing it from the nearby store.
No minimum value for free delivery: Sites like Big Basket and grofers det up a minimum value of purchase to avail the free delivery.
Express delivery: Express delivery means quicker delivery than ordinary services. In the ecommerce segment, it is generally within 24 hours.
No question asked return policy: When you wish to return the goods that you ordered online, you are almost always bombarded with unnecessary questions, JioMart will not ask the customer those questions.
Big discounts: The platform gives early discount of Rs. 3000, the platform has come up with a promotional strategy of pre-registration wherein people can save up to Rs. 3000 on future shopping.
Funding and acquisitions of Big Basket and JioMart
BigBasket has received funds worth around $526 million. The investors include Alibaba group, Abraaj Group, Ascent Capital, Bessemer venture partner, Brand Capital, Helium venture partner, ICICI venture, IFC Venture capital group, LionRock Capital, Paytm Mall, Sands Capital management, Sands capital ventures, Trifecta capital and Zodius Capital.
There are also talks about additional funding of around $200million post which the company would be valued at around $900 million. When it come to the acquisition BigBasket acquisition of delyver in June 2015 for an undisclosed amount. Delyver was also an online grocery store and its specialty was using local stores to deliver groceries to people. Now, all business assets of delyver have been merged with bigbasket.
The Reliance Industries has acquired or invested in several companies, which are now under Jio platforms. Some of them Haptik, Embibe, Radisys, Reverie, Grab a Crub, EasyGov, Asteria Aerospace, Tesseract. The companies that have a stake in the Jio platforms are KKR, Public Investment fund of Saudi Arabia, Vista equity partners, Silver Lake Partners, Mudabla Investment Company, General Atlantic, Google and Facebook among others.
Valuation of JioMart and Big Basket
In May 2020, the enterprise value of Jio platform was estimated to be $72 billion. The company was also reported to be valuable than all other businesses of RIL put together. Morgan Stanley has valued the net asset value of Reliance Retail at $29 billion the company estimates the e commerce will account for 15% of all retail sales in India by 2023. Big Basket on the other hand has the valuation of over $1.2 billion.
Big basket raised $300 million in February 2018 as part of its series E financing, which was led by the Alibaba Group. This gave the company a post-money valuation of $850 million. According to market sources, BigBasket is scouting for additional funding of $350-400 million at a valuation of about $2 billion. BigBasket has hence upped growth targets for FY21 by 40-50 per cent.
When it comes to workflow both the websites are similar overall ordering process, you sing up using email and phone number, selection or area or pin number, adding item to the cart, clicking on the checkout button to finally finish the payment process. BigBasket has a much wider variety of categories for products, while JioMart needs to work more in this area. However, JioMart is gets a point as it has the multi search feature. With the help of this feature the user can search multiple products in one go and the combined results will be displayed.
Navigation and search on big basket and jiomart
Wallet and checkout
JioMart does not have a wallet, it is also difficult choose an option to apply discount vouchers or choose a delivery slot. However JioMart directly refunds to your online payment method in case there is an adjustment later and they also have an option of crediting the amount to your store credit account. In contrast BigBasket provides lots of options during checkout such as the ability to apply a voucher, use balance from the wallet select a delivery slot, etc.
JioMart orders are sourced from your nearest retail outlet of reliance Fresh or reliance mart unlike BigBasket which are sourced from their own warehouses. This way JioMart has an advantage that is their sources like Reliance fresh are already established enterprises unlike the Big Basket warehouses, so they didn’t have to create their supply chain from scratch. Also, I think their stocks will churn out much faster as both online and offline buyers will buy from the same sources.
The Reliance Retail has achieved success and become the Indian largest retailer, because of its investments, the investor demand for reliance retail business is so strong that Mukesh Ambani is putting investors on a wait list. Mubadala an Abu Dhabi based investor has recently decided to invest ₹6,248 crore in the Reliance Retail to get a 1.40% equity stake for its investment.
This announcement comes day after Silver Lake partners said that it will invest ₹1,875 crore in India largest retailer. In all Reliance retail has managed to raise ₹24,847.5 crore by selling 5.6% stake to private equity and sovereign funds. That includes General Atlantic which will pick up 0.84% stake for ₹3,675 crore and KKR and co which will also invest ₹5,500 crore for 1.28% holding.
Reliance Retail has a total of 11,784 stores across consumer, electronics, grocery, general merchandise, fashion and lifestyle. And reported a consolidated turnover of ₹1,62,936 crore and net profit of ₹5,448 crore for the year March, 2020. The acquisition of future group retail and logistics business for ₹27,513 crore will add 1,736 Big Bazaar and other stores 28.3 million sq. ft. of retail area across grocery and fashion segments.
Reliance Retail is a retail initiative of the group and is a central to our consumer facing businesses. It has is a short time forged strong and enduring bonds with millions of consumers by providing them unlimited choice, outstanding value proposition, superior quality and unmatched experience across all its stores. Reliance retail is the largest retailer in the country.
Reliance Retail has adopted a multi prong strategy and operates chain of neighborhood stores, supermarkets, wholesale cash and carry stores, specialty stores and online stores and has democratized access to a variety of products and services across diverse segments for Indian consumers. Reliance retail reported a turnover of Rs. 1,30,566 crore for financial year 2018 to 2019. As of 2019, Reliance retail operates 10,901 stores across 6,700 plus cities with a retail area of over 24.5 million sq. ft.
The various subdivisions of Reliance Retail
Reliance retail operates Reliance Fresh, Reliance Smart and Reliance Market stores. In the consumer electronics category Reliance Retail operates Reliance Digital, Reliance Digital Express mini stores and Jio stores and in the fashion and lifestyle category it operates Reliance Trends, Project Eve, Reliance Footprint, Reliance jewels and AJIO.com in addition to a large number of partner brand stores across the country.
Reliance Retail has emerged as the partner of choice for many International brands and has established exclusive partnership with many revered International brands such as Diesel, Superdry, Hamleys, Ermenegildo, Zegna, Marks and spencer, Paul and shark, Thomas pink, Kenneth Cole, Brooks Brothers, Steve Madden, Payless Showsource, Grand Vision and many more.
Below here are the recent investments made into the Reliance Retail:
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund
On November 5, 2020, Reliance Retail, raised INR 9,555 Cr ($1.3 Bn approximately) from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), to accelerate the growth of its digital retail empire. It is a record eighth by marquee global investors in Reliance Retail. This investment values Reliance Retail at a pre-money equity value of INR 4.587 lakh Cr (around $62.4 Bn)
PIF (Public Investment Fund) is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, which works alongside various global strategic partners and investment managers. It acts as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s primary investment arm aiming toward generating long-term value for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Mubadala Investment
The most recent investment was made by Mubadala Investment Company who is investing ₹6,248 crore ($852.84 million) in the Reliance Retail giving the unit a pre-money equity value of 4.29 trillion rupees. The Mubadala’s investment will translate into a 1.40% equity stake in Reliance Retail on a fully diluted basis. This investment by Mubadala pegs pre investment equity valuation of Reliance Retail at ₹4.28 lakh crore.
Ambani is also replicating funding blitz for the retail unit after selling stakes in Jio Platforms as investors, including Facebook Inc. and Google, bet on his efforts to build a technology giant that offers data, content and commerce. Mubadala had also invested $1.2 billion in Jio Platforms earlier this year.
Shareholding
No of Shares
Vanishree Commercials Ltd
297,000,000
Infotel Infocomm Enterprises Pvt. Ltd
36,000,000
Silver Lake
109,929,733
KKR
81,348,479
General Atlantic
53,865,885
Silver Lake
27,482,594
Mubadala
91,572,004
Total Equity Shares of RRVL
6,534,957,216
General Atlantic Investment
General Atlantic a leading global growth equity firm decided to invest ₹3,675 crore into Reliance Retail. This investment values Reliance Retail at a pre money equity value of ₹4,285 lakh crore. The general Atlantic investment will translate into a 0.84% equity stake in reliance retail on a fully diluted basis. This marks the second investment by General Atlantic in a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, following a ₹6,598.38 crore investment in Jio platforms.
Silver Lake Investment
The Silver Lake would invest ₹7,500 crore in subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures for a 1.75% stake, valuing the company at ₹4.2 trillion. Earlier in 2020, Silver Lake invested ₹10,202 crore in Jio Platforms, Reliance digital service platform. This however, set the stage for more stake sales by the company including one to PE firm KKR, is also an investor in Jio Platform.
Silver Lake is a US based Global Technology Investment firm with an asset size $60 Billion. It has 56 portfolio companies and 300,000 employees by these firms. The company has made investment in India with Jio Platform, Byjus and Eka with 10 acquisitions.
Global Investment firm KKR has also invested ₹5,500 crore in Reliance Retail for 1.28% equity share. This was the second investment by KKR in a Reliance subsidiary, following a ₹11,367 crore investment in Jio Platform which was announced earlier in 2020. KKR investment values Reliance Retail at a pre money equity value of ₹4.21 trillion.
KKR has also invested $1.5 billion in the Jio platforms, its Co-founder and Co –CEO says that “we are pleased to deepen our relationship with Reliance Industries through this investment in Reliance Retail Ventures. Reliance retail new commerce platform is filling an important need for both consumers and small businesses as more Indian consumers have moved to shopping online”.
Jio platforms backing Reliance Retail
RIL had given the option to investors in Jio Platforms to consider backing Reliance Retail as it sought to unlock value, following the acquisition of Future Group’s retail assets last week, persons in the know said. Reliance Retail could look at offloading a 25-30% stake to a combination of private equity firms and tech giants such as Facebook, Google, and Intel, presenting telecom and retail as a potent force in India’s consumption story.
Along with Jio, retail contributes 35% to Reliance Industries consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda), Mukesh Ambani, RIL’s chairman, had said at the firm’s annual general meeting in July. Reliance has offloaded nearly 33% in Jio Platforms to 14 investors for Rs 1.52 trillion between April and June, emerging as the only firm in the country to go in for a massive monetization exercise at the height of the lockdown.
The reliance Retail runs supermarkets, India largest consumer electronics chain store, a cash and carry wholesaler, fast fashion outlets and an online grocery store called as Jio Mart. Ambani says that “we will induct global partners and investors into Relaince Retail in the next few quarters”. As the firm was planning to scale up Jio Mart as it new venture.
Some facts on Jio Mart
JioMart, which went live across 200 cities in May has crossed 250,000 in daily orders with the number growing each and every day. Since then daily orders have crossed the 400,000 mark. JioMart was pegged at ₹ 500 per transaction, but Ambani is trying to increase this number by taking the platform into areas beyond groceries, including electronics, fashion, and healthcare.
The company is also trying to work closely with WhatsApp which is owned by Facebook to boost the reach of JioMart. Apart from small merchants, Reliance Retail would also look to work closely with farmers to source more food items from them, as it seeks to scale up its farm to fork operations. At the same time, Reliance Retail would continue to push its presence into small towns and cities, Ambani said, adding more outlets in these places.
Reliance Jio is not just a telecom network, it is an entire ecosystem that allows Indians to live their digital life to the fullest. It was founded by Mr Mukesh Ambani who has been working on the JIO Infocomm Ltd since 2010. The idea is said to have come into existence when his daughter Isha Ambani complained of Low data speed (She is to thank for the fast downloads we are availing using JIO now).
Jio Platforms is a next-generation technology platform focused on providing high-quality and affordable digital services across India. Jio Platforms has made significant investments across its digital ecosystem which is powered by leading technologies like broadband connectivity, smart devices, cloud and edge computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things(IoT), augmented and mixed reality, and blockchain.
Jio’s vision is to enable a Digital India for 1.3 billion people and businesses across the country, including small merchants, micro-businesses, and farmers so that all of them can enjoy inclusive growth together. With these investments, Ambani plans to drive Jio ahead in the competition with giants like Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc., both of which have investments in.
In this article, we will talk about the companies that have invested in Reliance JIO in 2020. So let’s get started.
The social media giantFacebook had announced on April 22 its plans to invest $5.7 billion which is Indian INR 43574 Crore for a 9.99% stake in Reliance Industries Limited’s(RIL) telecom business, Reliance Jio. By partnering with Jio, Facebook plans to take advantage of its popular WhatsApp messenger to offer digital payment services to small grocers in India.
With a 9.9 % stake in Reliance Jio, Facebook gets a firm foothold in a fast-growing market in India. Also, it helps Reliance Jio to significantly cut down its debts. The deal valued Jio at Rs 4.62 lakh crore ($65.95 billion). It was Facebook’s biggest deal since the $22 billion buyouts of WhatsApp in 2014.
Three days later, Reliance Retail signed a commercial agreement with Facebook’s WhatsApp to further the reach of its online venture JioMart as it went live on WhatsApp on April 26.Jio Mart began offering its services in sub-urban Mumbai areas like Navi Mumbai, Thane, and Kalyan. These services will be extended all over the country.
This deal is expected to show the capacity for scaling due to a heavy user base comprising 400 millionWhatsApp users and Jio’s 388 million subscribers. JioMart uses WhatsApp to bring in high-speed information and digital cash. JioMart and Whatsapp will empower nearly 3 crores of small Indian Kirana shops to digitally transact and take on giants such as Amazon India.
Silver Lake Partners and Jio Deal
Jio-Silver Lake deal came less than two weeks after the Facebook deal. On the 4th of May, Silver Lake Partners, an American private equity giant, bought a 1% stake in Jio Platforms for INR 5,655.75 crore($750 million). This deal took Jio’s enterprise value to INR 5.15 lakh crore and represents a 12.5% premium to the equity valuation of Facebook’s investment again hitting the investing road with Jio, they invested around INR 4,546.8 crore taking around 2.08%of the company stake. Now the aggregate investment by this firm is around INR 10,202.55 crore.
"Silver Lake Partners has an outstanding record of being a valuable partner for leading technology companies globally. We are excited to leverage insights from their global technology relationships for the Indian digital society’s transformation."- Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited
These deals will help Reliance use Facebook’s tech in its new businesses. It will give the US tech giant’s Indian reach a massive boost through a partner in Ambani who is widely perceived to be influential in government circles. Silver Lake’s investment highlights Reliance’s ability to monetize its digital services business and strengthens Reliance’s already strong financial flexibility.
Silver Lake Partners (SLP) was launched in 1999 as a specialist firm to focus on technology company investments. SLP made headlines after acquiring PC maker Dell Inc in conjunction with Michael Dell in 2013. Its portfolio of investments collectively generates revenues of more than $204 billion annually. Its portfolio includes Twitter, Airbnb, Alibaba Group, Ant Financial, Didi Chuxing, Motorola Solutions, and City Football Group.
Vista Equity Partners and Jio Deal
On the 8th of May, Vista Equity Partners, a US-based private equity firm running the world’s largest exclusively tech-focused fund, bought a 2.32 % stake in Jio Platforms for INR 11,367 Crores. The deal made it the third high-profile investment in the Reliance Industries Ltd’ (RIL) unit and highlights Jio’s status as a next-generation software and platform company.
This deal valued Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore. Vista’s investment is at a 12.5% premium over the deal with Facebook. It will be Vista’s biggest investment outside of its home country and it’s first in Asia. With this deal, Jio has become the fourth most valued entity in India after HDFC Bank, TCS, and RIL.
“In Robert and Brian, whose family hails from Gujarat, I found two outstanding global technology leaders who believe in India and the transformative potential of a digital Indian society. We are excited to leverage the professional expertise and multi-level support that Vista has been offering to its investments globally for the benefit of Jio.” – Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited
The investment from Vista will be used by Jio to buy back RIL’s optionally convertible preference shares. The Vista deal will further help in fixing the equity value of Jio and improve RIL’s cash flows. This will accelerate RIL’s deleveraging exercise as RIL plans to eliminate Rs 1.75 lakh crore of net debt by the end of this financial year. Through Jio, Vista hopes to earn good returns as and when the telecom and technology company goes public, which is part of Ambani’s plan.
“Mukesh’s vision as a global pioneer, alongside Jio’s world-class leadership team, has built a platform to scale and advance the data revolution it started. We are thrilled to join Jio Platforms to deliver exponential growth in connectivity across India, providing modern consumer, small business, and enterprise software to fuel the future of one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies.” -Robert Smith, Chairman, Vista
General Atlantic and Jio Deal
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani extended his fund-raising streak for Jio Platforms Ltd. by selling a 1.34% equity stake to General Atlantic on May 17. Reliance Industries Limited and Jio Platforms Limited announced an investment of ₹ 6,598.38 crores ($873 Mn) stake by General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm that has invested in Airbnb Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc.
This investment values Jio Platforms at an equity value of ₹ 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of ₹ 5.16 lakh crore. The deal will consolidate backing for Jio’s plan to use its almost 400 million mobile phone subscribers as a base for an e-commerce drive to use India’s vast consumer markets—from retail to education and payments. The deal will also support Ambani’s vow to pay down more than $20 billion of net debt at Reliance earlier than an initial March 2021 deadline.
“We are delighted that a renowned global investor like General Atlantic is partnering with us in our journey to digitally empower India and Indians. Jio is committed to making a digitally inclusive India that will provide immense opportunities to every Indian citizen.” -Akash Ambani, Director, Reliance Jio
General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm with a 40-year track record of investing in the Technology, Consumer, Financial Services, and Healthcaresectors. It operates across 14 locations as an integrated team under a global investment platform. To date, General Atlantic has invested in prominent entrepreneurs and companies around the world such as Airbnb, Alibaba, Ant Financial, Box, ByteDance, Facebook, Slack, Snapchat, Uber,and other global technology leaders.
KKR & Co. Inc. and Jio Deal
KKR is an American private equity firm and has also been one of the key investors by buying around INR 11367 crores around 2.32% of the stake.
“We are looking forward to leveraging KKR’s global platform, industry knowledge, and operational expertise to further grow Jio.” -Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited
KKR was founded in 1976 by Henry Kravis and George Roberts and since then has been a prime equity firm of the US market.
“Few companies have the potential to transform a country’s digital ecosystem in the way that Jio Platforms is doing in India, and potentially worldwide.” – Henry Kravis, Chairman, KKR
Mubadala Investment Company and Jio Deal
Striking a deal of Rs 9093.6 crore with the Abu Dhabi based investment company will surely help Reliance Jio to expand its reach towards the gulf countries. It will help them expand their venture globally. While so many US-based firms investing now Abu Dhabi based firms also becoming important investors.
Mubadala Investment Company founded in 2017 in Abu Dhabi, UAE has been one of the key investing companies which have helped in growing up UAE economy on a global front. Investments like these can play a key role in developing Jio hold all around the world.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Jio Deal
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), one of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds, will pump Rs 5,683.5 crore into Jio Platforms joining the list of global tech investors that have invested millions of dollars on the Reliance Industries unit due to its unique potential to dominate India’s booming digital economy.
“I am delighted that ADIA, with its track record of more than four decades of successful long-term value investing across the world, is partnering with Jio Platforms in its mission to take India to digital leadership and generate inclusive growth opportunities. This investment is a strong endorsement of our strategy and India’s potential.” -Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries
The decision by ADIA, a globally-diversified investment institution, in exchange for a 1.16 % stake, is an unprecedented eighth investment in Jio Platforms in less than seven weeks and marks the largest continuous fundraising action by a company anywhere in the world. RIL, the oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate, has now sold a little over 21 % stake in Jio Platforms through a flurry of fundraising deals and raised as much as Rs 97,885.65 crore, or $12.96 billion.
“Our investment in Jio is a further demonstration of ADIA’s ability to draw on deep regional and sector expertise to invest globally in market-leading companies and alongside proven partners.” -Hamad Shahwan Aldhaheri, Executive Director, ADIA
TPG and Jio Deal
TPG Captial is going to invest 4,546.80 Crores for a 0.93% stake in the Jio platform, making it the ninth deal in just a span of seven weeks taking the combined fundraising in the Reliance Industries unit across the 1 lakh crore mark. TPG has previously invested in Companies like Airbnb, Uber and Spotify.
“Today, I am happy to welcome TPG as valued investors in our continued efforts towards digitally empowering the lives of Indians through the creation of a digital ecosystem. We have been impressed by TPG’s track record of investing in global technology businesses which serve hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses, making the societies we live in better.” -Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries
In TPG’s more than 25 years of history, it has successfully built an ecosystem made up of hundreds of portfolio companies and a value-added network of professionals, executives and advisors around the world. By offering institutional support and global resources, TPG enables these companies to reach their full potential and unlock greater possibilities.
“We are excited to partner Reliance to invest in Jio. As an investor in growth, change, and innovation for over 25 years – and with a longstanding presence in India — we are excited to play an early role in Jio’s journey as they continue to transform and advance India’s digital economy. Jio is a disruptive industry leader that is empowering small businesses and consumers across India by providing them with critical, high-quality digital services. The company is bringing unmatched potential and execution capabilities to the market, setting the tone for all technology companies to come.” -Jim Coulter, Co-CEO, TPG
L Catterton and Jio Deal
The world’s largest consumer-focused private equity firm L Catterton is going to invest Rs 1,894.50 crore in Jio Platforms for a 0.39% stake in Reliance Jio. With this Reliance, Jio has made a historic record with 10 investments in just seven weeks and has raised INR 104,326.95 Crores from leading global investors since April 22nd, 2020.
“I am delighted to welcome L Catterton as a partner in our journey to unleash the power of digital for India while providing a consumer experience that is among the best in the world. I particularly look forward to gaining from L Catterton’s invaluable experience in creating consumer-centric businesses because technology and consumer experience need to work together to propel India to achieving digital leadership.” -Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries
L Catterton is a preferred investment partner for several leading consumer-focused brands around the world. Having a 30-year track record of leveraging its operational expertise, deep sector insights, a global network of resources, and its unique partnership with LVMH and Groupe Arnault, L Catterton has successfully invested in and helped build some of the most innovative brands at the forefront of the evolving consumer landscape, including Peloton, Vroom, ClassPass, Owndays, FabIndia, and more.
“Over our more than 30 year history, we have established a track record of building many of the most important brands across all consumer categories and geographies, from retailers, omni-channel and digitally native brands. We are strong supporters of fostering growth through product development, enhanced digital capabilities, and strategic alliances. We look forward to partnering with Jio, which is uniquely positioned to execute on its vision and mission to transform the country and build a digital society for 1.3 billion Indians through its unmatched digital and technological capabilities" -Michael Chu, Global Co-CEO, L Catterton
Saudi Arabia’s PIF and Jio Deal
Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF), one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds is all set to pick up a 2.32 per cent stake in Indian oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries’ Jio, for an estimated $1.5 billion. With PIF coming on board, Jio Platforms has diluted 25 per cent of its equity. That’s the maximum they intend to dilute to financial investors, which includes Mark Zukerberg’s Facebook. Any new investors coming on board in future will have to be “strategic investors, a tech giant, for instance,” said a source who was part of the deal-making process.
Conclusion
The secret behind Jio’s success is that it’s customer-centric and has a webscale mentality. Reliance Jio made it look easy when it successfully swooped into the jam-packed and super competitive mobile market with free 4G voice and data service. So in short Reliance Jio aims at harnessing the full potential of the internet to create a digital revolution through its technologies. Innovative services and long-term planning will radically bring the world to one’s fingertips much faster and also transform the way Indians think, work, live, and are entertained.
FAQs
Who is the founder of Reliance Industries Limited?
Dhirubhai Ambani is the founder of Reliance Industries Limited.
Who is Mukesh Ambani?
Mukesh Ambani is the managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd.
India has gone through a rapid digital transformation over the last few years. After coming of Jio into existence in the Indian ecosystem. This contribution in the Indian market has increased the use of smartphone and internet with a great pace and it has grown exponentially. Now, Jio has collaborated with a social media giant Facebook, making it the world’s largest made by any technology company in the world. Let us read the key aspects of Jio-Facebook Partnership.
Highlights of Jio-Facebook Partnership
Jio-Facebook Partnership
The Facebook Inc. is the world’s largest social media company. The company has announced that it has invested $5.7 billion for a 9.99% stake as a minority investor in India’s Reliance Jio Platforms in the nation’s most valued firm, Reliance Industries which is the biggest telecom operator in the country with more than 370 million subscribers giving its services in all the sectors of telecom operations.
Jio was valued at $65.95 billion at the pre-money valuation period. This makes Facebook- the social giant, the largest minority shareholder in the Indian telecom network by bidding for nearly 10% of the stakes in Reliance Jio telecom subsidiary platform.
The Jio-Facebook Partnership will work in the direction of bringing together JioMart, which will be an e-commerce business retail platform which will be providing all types of facilities under a single platform using the technologies and data of both the companies. Some of the experts are also saying that, this can be the nation’s largest retail chain, with the integration of WhatsApp as this messaging platform is having a biggest market with more than 400 million users. WhatsApp is also the most popular smartphone app in India.
The Reliance Jio-Facebook Partnership wants to replicate the USP of Wechat in India by creating an all-in one, multi-utility platform named as ’JioMart’.
WeChat is a Chinese multi-purpose messaging, mobile payment app and social media platform developed by Tancent. It was first released in 2011, and gained so much popularity that it became one of the world’s largest standalone mobile apps in 2018, with over 1 billion monthly active users. Due to exponential increase in the popularity, WeChat has been described as China’s “app for everything” and a “super app” because of its multiple range of functions under a same console roof.
The JioMart platform will be having all the payment facility and E-commerce of Jio itself, who is having all its platform ready to use eg:- Ajio, JioMoney. The company is going to integrate WhatsApp facility for completing any type of purchasing with the help of WhatsApp payments option. All the other facilities which are not provided by them, will be provided with the integration of retailers of those special services. This specially include, the kirana-retailor, which will be helping them to complete their all-facility-single-platform-hub. So, in this way, this collaboration is going to replicate the model of WeChat in India.
Other Investment of Facebook in India
This is not the first time when Facebook has made any investment in India. From the past, it has been seen that the Facebook has made some investment in some of the other tech start-ups. Some of these startups consist of edutech and social commerce reseller platform.
The social commerce reseller platform, Meesho has been funded by Facebook with around $20-25 million. It is a platform where people act themselves as a seller by just listing it on their digital-social groups, in other words a drop-shipping business in your local group.
The edutech startup Byju’s has been funded by Facebook with around $50 million. This startup works on the interactive way of providing education of students from primary classes to all the competitive exams.
The edutech startup Unacademy has been funded by Facebook with around $110 million. This startup provides the best teachers for all types of competitive exams and provides a focus on detailed study while sitting in any corner of the country
These funded startups are: Byju’s, Unacademy and Meesho. Though exact amounts of investment is not disclosed in these cases but, it is a well-known fact that the Facebook is just trying to integrate every type of business platform with the widely used messaging app i.e. Whatsapp. This will help Facebook in getting the data of the people, which can help Facebook to run a suitable ads for it, according to the needs and requirements of the people which can become a potential customers of different other businesses via Facebook ads marketplace.
