Reliance Retail plans 30-minute delivery model for quick commerce re-entry

Reliance Industries’ retail arm, Reliance Retail will not compete with Blinkit and Zepto with a 10-minute delivery model for its proposed re-entry into quick commerce venture next month.

Instead the country’s largest retailer is planning a 30-minute delivery model with a wider assortment than existing quick commerce companies which will be fed by Reliance’s own stores and the almost 20 lakh kiranas who source products from the company, said two executives aware of the plans. The kiranas are part of the JioMart Partner initiative whereby they source products from Reliance Retail’s wholesale arm and have their backend connected.

The company will be utilizing tech platforms such as FYND and Locus for the fulfilment process and optimise delivery routes to ensure orders reach within 30 minutes, considering Reliance is not setting up dark stores like other quick commerce operators who have such warehouses in each locality for under-ten-minute delivery, they said.


While Reliance Retail’s quick commerce venture will initially sell only groceries, it will start quick deliveries of apparel and electronics leveraging the entire 19,000-plus store network.

It has formed an inter-departmental team for its re-entry into quick commerce – Reliance Retail’s chief executive for grocery business Damodar Mall, JioMart chief executive Sandeep Varaganti and a senior team in corporate which will be further expanded as more categories get added.

An email sent to Reliance Retail remained unanswered till Wednesday press time.

One of the executives said the company’s research shows consumers are willing to wait for most products instead of wanting them within 10 minutes. “The value for consumers in Reliance's quick commerce will be on the wider assortment and deals. Moreover, Reliance’s venture will be expanded pan-India and not just the top 8-10 cities which current quick commerce companies focus on,” he said.

Reliance's quick commerce venture will kick-off next month in eight cities such as Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata. The company has internally named the project as ‘JioMart Express’ which will be integrated in the existing JioMart app. Reliance had last year shelved its quick commerce pilot in Navi Mumbai when it was also called JioMart Express.

Reliance then did not find the foray profitable since unit cost of deliveries are higher than e-commerce with buying ticket sizes low. However, quick commerce has become the fastest growing channel for fast moving consumer goods companies in the last one-year accounting for up to 30% of their overall e-commerce revenue in 2023-24.

This shift in buying behavior prompted Reliance to re-enter this space. Industry executives have said quick commerce contributions for FMCG will go up further in the next couple of years.