Reliance starts WhatApp-based online portal amid Covid-19 lockdown

Reliance Industries Ltd. started testing its online shopping portal three days after Facebook Inc. said it would invest $5.7 billion in digital assets controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

JioMart, an e-commerce venture of Reliance Retail, went live in three neighbourhoods surrounding Mumbai, leveraging a deal that gives it access to WhatsApps 400 million users in India currently under the worlds most expansive lockdown.

The starting of the portal takes Asia’s richest man a step closer to his goal of setting up a digital platform to take on Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.s Flipkart Online Services Pvt. for a slice of India’s e-commerce market that KPMG says is set to grow to $200 billion by 2027. Facebook hopes a partnership with JioMart will help make WhatsApp the primary way small businesses connect with customers.