Meta has announced today that it has joined forces with JioMart in India to provide the first end-to-end shopping experience contained within WhatsApp. This is furthering WhatsApp"s push into e-commerce and the process is started by just sending a "Hi" message to the JioMart WhatsApp number.
The idea is that this will allow users in India, particularly those who have not shopped online before, to do so with ease with full access to JioMart"s catalogue, and with an already familiar interface.
Meta have stated in its press release that it is aiming to further accelerate India"s digital transformation with this strategic partnership, and it states that this is only a part of what the two companies are looking to work on. Mark Zuckerberg had the following to say on the partnership and launch of this new feature.
The Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, also had this to say:
“Our vision is to propel India as the world’s leading digital society. When Jio platforms and Meta announced our partnership in 2020, Mark and I shared a vision of bringing more people and businesses online and creating truly innovative solutions that will add convenience to the daily lives of every Indian. One example of an innovative customer experience that we are proud of developing is the first ever end-to-end shopping experience with JioMart on WhatsApp. The JioMart on WhatsApp experience furthers our commitment of enabling a simple and convenient way of online shopping to millions of Indians.”
Meta has also provided screenshots of how the system will work, showing how ordering, and payment is completed through the app as shown in the image above, and how it will all be managed through a single chat window with the JioMart contact.