Reliance JioMart steps up e-commerce battle to tap into festive fervour; adds gifting option for users

Even as Amazon competes with Reliance to acquire assets of Future Retail for a shot to the pole position in India’s vast consumer market, Mukesh Ambani’s e-commerce venture JioMart is gradually taking the battle to large incumbents such as Amazon and Flipkart. After expanding from grocery to fashion and electronics segments, JioMart is now tapping into the festive fervour. Alongside running its second festive sale – Bestival Sale, JioMart has added a gifting corner on its app and website offering up to 50 per cent discounts on sweets, snacks, electronics products, etc., according to the details available on the website. However, the number of products and discounts available under gifting are not uniform and varies geographically.

According to gifting solutions company Qwikcilver, the online gifting market is expected to grow to $84 billion in size by 2024 from $65 million in 2019. However, post-Covid, much like most of the sector, the gifting market also took a hit as social gathering and traveling were paused. This led to online channel picking up the pace for sending gifts for various occasions including birthdays, anniversaries, and different festivals. Companies too jumped to the online channel to tap into it. For instance, Ferns N Petals had launched digital gifting options back in April such as guitarist on video call, personalized video message, and personalized e-story books along with other digital and virtual gifting choices.

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Meanwhile, JioMart is currently running a pilot for its electronics category launched last month. The service, similar to previous categories, was available in select areas in Navi Mumbai, Thane, and Kalyan. The foray into fashion and electronics segments by JioMart also gained importance amid the ongoing festive season wherein marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, and others have already rolled out multiple sales.

Reliance had signed an agreement With Future Group in August this year to acquire retail, wholesale, logistics, and warehousing units of the latter’s retail business. The deal would have given Reliance access to “2,000 Future Group retail stores, covering over 24 million square feet of space in over 400 cities and towns” according to the Future Group website. However, Amazon had challenged the deal in the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) wherein the arbitrator had on October 25 restrained the deal through an interim order. In the latest move, Future Retail had asked BSE and NSE to not take cognizance of either the Singapore emergency arbitrator’s order or Amazon’s letter to the exchanges in which it said Future’s stock exchanges disclosures mislead public shareholders, according to a stock exchange filing.