Well, India’s largest organised retailer Reliance Retail is now again looking to enter the quick commerce (q-commerce) segment. Currently, with nearly 19,000 stores across the country, it has started the pilot test of a 30-minute delivery service under the JioMart brand. These trials are now being conducted in selected urban locations of Maharashtra and Karnataka in furtherance of what appears to be Reliance’s plan to re-enter the hyperlocal delivery space.
Its Quick Commerce incorporates its general strategic approach for Reliance Retail. Still, the India-based supermarket’s struggles do not dampen its q-commerce ambitions. The pilot will majorly be on grocery and FMCG which will be delivered through Reliance Retail outlets and selected Kirana stores connected to the JioMart merchant store program. The goal is to scale this service up to 20-30 cities by the end of October or November this year and scale up to 100 cities by mid-next year 2025.
Some insiders reveal that Reliance Retail has planned phased expansion of the Easy Mobile store hence during the initial launch, the managers will keenly monitor the consumer sentiment and business performance. Although the current goal is 30-minute deliveries there is always a potential that Reliance may cut the delivery times in the future. However, it can not compete with others who are already in the market such as Blinkit owned by Zomato, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart, and have delivery times as low as 10 minutes using networks of ‘dark stores’ for order picking.
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Moving Beyond ’Big Groceries’ & FMCG
Besides, Reliance is planning to include more categories in its grocery delivery service such as fashion, lifestyle, etc, and electronics. However, these expansions can be done at a later stage of the rollout, depending on the initial results of the service to the clients.
This will be the third shot of Reliance Retail to capture the q-commerce market. The first foray came in 2021 when they tasted the experiment with JioMart Express in Navi Mumbai which was shut after two years. In 2022, they got into hyperlocal delivery firm Dunzo, getting more than 25% of its stake, but Dunzo has faced some financial issues and thus cannot make much progress.
Challenges in Quick Commerce
There is a concern regarding flexibility, especially among specialists who look at the quick commerce segment where flexibility and effective logistics are key. Reliance has created a massive retail network; the issue is, how to make fast commerce a part of this structure effectively. As per Navin Honagudi, the Managing Partner at Elev8 Venture Partners, q-commerce is a “different ball game”, even though Reliance has a robust background in the regular type of selling.
Hence, to clarify, one of the misleading strategies for Reliance as well as Amazon and Flipkart was the boom in quick commerce in India. Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto have entered the market and quickly forced themselves into the leaders in delivering super fast.
The Road Ahead: Quick Commerce: Flipkart and Amazon
Notably, Amazon’s key global rival and competitor in India, Walmart’s Flipkart has launched its dark store service named Flipkart Minutes in a bid to capture the quick commerce market, and on the same line, Amazon itself plans to venture into this segment only at the end of 2025. Even about their previous mistakes in evaluating the market stakes, the two companies look to have wised up.
Observe quick commerce’s rapidly shifting environment and all wait for Reliance to see if this third attempt satisfies the delivery speed they desire.
Is Reliance’s Third Attempt at Quick Commerce Going to Panned?
The requirements for hyperlocal delivery are on the rise and with Reliance Retail’s resources and network at their disposal this time the company is likely to succeed. But, the real question is; can it compete with the current contestants such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto? This is yet to be seen whether Reliance’s new strategy will yield new success for the fast-growing commerce sector in India.
Conclusion
As for the second type of q-commerce company, Reliance Retail’s re-entry into the segment is high stakes and competitive. While it has all the required attributes like owning it and having the right ecosystem in place, quick commerce comes with new challenges. While Reliance is expanding the hyperlocal delivery model, the next few months will decide if this time the retailer will manage to carve a niche for itself in the cut-throat quick commerce space.
