Meta and JioMart Will Launch Chat-To-Cart Services In India

Meta and Jio Platforms have announced the launch of an end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp, where consumers can shop from JioMart right within their WhatsApp chat.

It will allow people in India to browse the JioMart catalog, add products to their cart and pay via local payments rail UPI without ever leaving the instant messaging service. People in India can simply start shopping on JioMart through WhatsApp by sending ‘Hi’ to the JioMart number. Recently, WhatsApp received approval to expand its UPI-powered payments service to 100 million Indians after several delays. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, said in a statement,

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. 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.

JioMart on WhatsApp allows Indians, including those who have never shopped online before, to browse JioMart’s entire grocery catalog seamlessly. WhatsApp chat allows shoppers to add items to their cart and complete their purchases without leaving the 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, fueling economic growth in the country.

The JioMart on WhatsApp experience will revolutionize the way millions of businesses across India connect with their consumers while bringing unparalleled simplicity and convenience to people’s shopping experience.

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Meta’s investment in Jio Platforms

Meta owns a substantial minority stake in Jio Platforms, the country’s largest telecom operator with over 421 million subscriber lines. Additionally, Jio announced it will invest $25 billion in the country’s 5G launch in October and hopes to reach “every town” by the end of next year.

This $221 billion Indian conglomerate is attempting to take on Amazon and Flipkart in the Indian market with JioMart. While Reliance Retail is the country’s largest retail chain, it offers limited e-commerce products at the moment. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, and Managing Director, Reliance Industries said,

Our vision is to propel India as 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. 

He further added,

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 of enabling a simple and convenient way of online shopping to millions of Indians.