Meta launches end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp for users in India

In a blog post, Meta announced that it had entered a strategic partnership with Reliance’s Jio Platforms to launch its first-ever end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp for users in India. As a result of the partnership, people in India will be able to get access to the entire JioMart grocery catalog by simply sending a “Hi” message to the JioMart number.

JioMart is an Indian e-commerce company owned by Reliance. It is gaining popularity in its home to bring tough competition to the likes of Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart. And now, with the strategic partnership with Meta, Reliance is making its e-commerce platform easily available to almost half a billion WhatsApp users in India.

Users in India will be shown the complete JioMart catalog after they type “Hi” to the JioMart number on WhatsApp. It will also be possible to add all grocery items to the shopping cart and complete the purchase using the country’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) or other methods, including credit and debit cards. Also, the cash-on-delivery option is available for those who do not want to make digital payments. Long story short, the complete shopping experience will be available on Meta’s WhatsApp.

Meta hopes that the partnership with Jio Platforms will “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,” the blog post reads.

About the partnership, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries, said the following:

If you are from India, do you use JioMart to order your groceries? If yes, will you use WhatsApp to order grocery items from now on? Let us know in the comments sections.