Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail to use 5k Jio Point stores for e-comm venture

Mukesh Ambani-led RIL has been aggressively working on its hybrid model of commerce by leveraging Reliance Retail physical store and Reliance Jio Digital infrastructure to boost sales in smaller cities.

Now it will use Jio Point stores in smaller cities across the country as delivery and collection point for its e-commerce venture, which as senior executives of the company said will be operational from April next year.

Jio Point stores account for 10 per cent of electronic sales, as per ET report.

It will also assist consumers who have never shopped online. The customer can pick up the product from the Jio Point or store executives can deliver to them, executives added.

Through Jio Point stores and e-com stall, Reliance Retail further will extend the sale of sugar, pulses, soaps, and biscuits, apparel and shoes among other goods.

The company plans to have over 50k Jio Point stores in rural and smaller cities. It claims to add 500 Jio Point stores in every quarter.

Currently, Reliance Retail has 7,500 physical stores and 5000 Jio Points across 4,400 cities in the country. Its telecom wing, Reliance Jio enjoys subscriber-base over 225 million. In space of two years, Jio has come out as one big player in the telecom sector. The company plans to use the Jio distribution network, which supplies sim card and mobile related accessories at present.

Besides, Reliance is also planning to launch UPI-based payments in Feb next year.

The Ambani-led firm is aiming to cover 99 per cent of India’s population through all possible segments of the Internet.

Of late, Amazon and Flipkart have also been aggressively to reach out to the rural population, who has been untouched by online shopping phenomenon. The Jeff Bezos-led firm has been running Project Udaan to reach out to local entrepreneurs.

The rural market for e-commerce is said to be a $10-12 billion opportunity in the next four years. According to eMarketer, the online retail market in India has more than tripled in the last 3 years, e-comm sales are expected to grow over 30 percent annually.