Reliance Retail is scaling up its e-commerce platform JioMart’s quick-commerce business with a strategy that breaks from the industry’s fixation on 10-minute delivery.
It is leveraging its extensive network of physical stores to enable two-hour deliveries, while broadening its focus to higher-value categories such as electronics and fashion.
The playbook so far appears to be gaining traction. JioMart’s hyperlocal business scaled to roughly two million average daily orders in the March quarter, up 29% sequentially and over 300% year-on-year, Reliance Industries Ltd’s Q4FY26 investor presentation showed.
Nearly 5.8 million new customers shopped on the platform during the fourth quarter, while the registered customer base expanded by 98% on-year.
In fact, Reliance Retail logged total transactions (including JioMart, Reliance Digital, Metro, and Smart Bazaar) worth ₹193 crore in the last quarter of 2025-26, with JioMart’s high-frequency nature boosting the figure, Dinesh Taluja, group chief financial officer of Reliance Retail, told analysts on Friday.
“We have the widest reach and network that any hyperlocal player has in the country today,” he added.
The numbers come amid an aggressive expansion push by quick-commerce players such as Eternal Ltd-owned Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, and Tata group-owned BigBasket, which are investing heavily in dark stores and logistics even as profitability remains uncertain.
Market leader Blinkit logged roughly 8.1 million daily orders as of the December quarter, while Swiggy Instamart’s daily order volume stood at 3.5 million in the same period. Both are yet to release Q4 results.
As competition intensifies, JioMart’s store-led, longer-delivery-timeline approach could emerge as a countermodel, challenging the speed-first game plan and reshaping how the sector evolves, industry executives told Mint.
Store network for the win
JioMart’s key edge is its 3,100+ store network as of the December quarter, with separate Reliance Retail verticals, such as Smart Bazaar (1,000), adding more stores.
Blinkit had a total of 2,027 dark stores at the end of the December quarter, while Instamart’s dark-store count stood at 1,136.
JioMart’s “store-as-warehouse” approach allows JioMart to offer a wider assortment while potentially improving cost efficiencies, according to analysts.
“The primary network is not going to be dark stores. You are sharing the cost of that store with both walk-in customers and deliveries, which makes the model more sustainable," said Arvind Singhal, chairman of retail consultancy The Knowledge Company.
This also explains JioMart’s tilt towards two-hour deliveries, which allow it to balance assortment and costs, unlike rivals built around 10-minute-led fulfilment.
The industry may be overestimating the importance of ultra-fast delivery, according to Singhal. “Very rarely is something needed in 10-15 minutes… what customers want is range, quality and pricing.”
Moreover, JioMart added 1,700 fashion and lifestyle stores (Reliance Trends) and 682 electronics (Reliance Digital) to its hyperlocal serviceability to improve average order values. “Most players offer a multicategory assortment through their dark stores, but it’s very limited. In our case, we are able to offer the entire assortment available in all our stores,” Taluja said.
JioMart is also looking to expand tie-ups with third-party retailers to address any gaps in assortment availability.
However, the playbook is not without trade-offs. Madhur Singhal, managing partner (consumer and internet) at consultancy Praxis Global Alliance, noted that while a two-hour delivery window aligns better with store operations and could create “economic advantages”, higher rents for customer-facing stores versus dark stores could weigh on margins.
“There will also be challenges in inventory management, promotions and coordinating such a large network,” he said, adding that execution and technology integration will be critical.
Still, JioMart’s rapid scaling, reflected in nearly doubling its customer base on-year, suggests the model is gaining traction, even as Reliance Retail’s margins remain under pressure due to continued investments in hyperlocal commerce.
Reliance Retail’s Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) margin in the March quarter stood at 7.1%, down from 8% in the December quarter, largely on account of continued investments in scaling hyperlocal commerce.
How rivals may respond
JioMart’s plan could force a rethink among quick-commerce rivals, which have built their businesses around dense networks of small, dark stores, optimized for 10-15 minute deliveries.
While these players benefit from proximity to consumers and slightly lower real estate costs, their model has inherent limitations, particularly in terms of assortment and cost efficiency.
“The current quick-commerce model is very inefficient because it is one order per delivery,” The Knowledge Company's Singhal said, adding that bundling deliveries or moving towards scheduled orders could improve economics.
He expected rivals to experiment with scheduled or slightly longer delivery windows to optimize logistics. “It is not about 15 minutes versus 60 minutes… the battle will be won by product range and pricing.”
For competitors, matching JioMart’s breadth of assortment may prove difficult without significantly expanding infrastructure. At the same time, Praxis Global Alliance’s Singhal pointed out that dark-store-led players retain certain advantages, including flexibility in location and faster service in dense urban pockets.
Brands, meanwhile, are unlikely to pick sides. “Brands need both modern trade for discovery and quick commerce for convenience,” he said, suggesting JioMart will become an important channel but not a replacement for others.
