Reliance prepares the ground for e-commerce launch

Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd’s retail arm—Reliance Retail Ltd—is testing its food and grocery app among its employees before the commercial launch of its e-commerce venture, mirroring the strategy India’s most valuable company adopted ahead of launching its 4G telecom service in Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

The grocery app would be made available to the public by this year-end and orders made on the app fulfilled by local merchants, two people aware of the matter said, requesting anonymity.

Reliance Industries’ entry into the Indian e-commerce market, if its aggressive foray into the telecom industry is anything to go by, may similarly upend the online retail industry that is dominated by US giants Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.-owned Flipkart, at present.