reliance retails jiomart has quietly paused the operations of jiomart express the quick commerce grocery delivery service it launched in march last year people aware of the matter saidin fact users can no longer download the jiomart express app from the google play store and its website is also inactive instead it is directing users to try jiomart on whatsapp where deliveries are taking at least a few hours or the next day as opposed to jiomart express which was a 90minute delivery serviceessentially this means the quick service delivery is no longer available on jiomartthe jiomart orders through whatsapp is part of a broader partnership between meta inc and reliances jio platforms advt jiomart express was launched in navi mumbai and the mumbaibased conglomerate had plans to take it to around 200 cities they jiomart do not want to be in this kind of heavyburn business amid the hype last year they also experimented with express deliveries but its not going to be continued one of the sources aware of the matter said a spokesperson for reliance retail confirmed the development to et jiomart express was only a pilot with select users the spokesperson said reliance retails digital commerce in grocery continues to be multifaceted a highreach new commerce model with kirana stores jiomart is currently present in over 350 towns jiomart on whatsapp and milkbasket subscription services in over 35 towns are all initiatives that are being expanded to cater to the diverse consumer requirements together these present an unmatched and a multisegment play in the digital shopping opportunity the company said in a statement quick correctionthe cashguzzling business model of quick commerce platforms has come under scrutiny of investors triggered by the ongoing funding winter for startups existing players like swiggys instamart zomatos blinkit upstart zepto bigbaskets bb now are constantly looking to increase average order value or even nudge consumers into longer delivery timelines to cut costs on each order reliance retail also is the single largest investor in quick commerce startup dunzo et reported in january that reliance retail may end up writing a relatively smaller cheque in the new funding round being planned at dunzo which fired around 3 of its staff last month and undertook significant changes to rein in spiralling operating costs last year advt jiomart had plans to utilise dunzos delivery fleet for express very few orders for jiomart express came for dunzo a person aware of the matter said no one has unlimited funding its a very competitive and hard space to compete at these parameters what grocery platforms have been doing is that they offer a spectrum of services with sameday to nextday deliveries with some platforms offering twoday deliveries also there were a lot of experiments and it would be fair to imagine that some would work and some wont said ashutosh sharma vice president of research at forrester all existing players in the quick commerce segment are struggling to be profitable he saidits not easy to deliver