Jio Platforms on Monday joined hands with Meta so that users can shop from JioMart through their WhatsApp accounts. A global first, the facility will allow customers to browse through JioMart’s entire grocery catalogue, add items to cart, and make the payment to complete the purchase — all without leaving the WhatsApp chat.

Jio Platforms is the holding company for the digital services businesses of RIL. Isha Ambani, director, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, said users can say ‘Hi’ to the JioMart smart bot in WhatsApp, and JioMart will send a link to get started. By clicking on the link, customers are transported from the chat interface of WhatsApp to a more visually-rich interface.

For payment, they can use WhatsApp Pay, Cash on Delivery and other methods. Customers will also get updates on the order status until delivery. “Excited to launch our partnership with JioMart in India. This is our first-ever end-to-end shopping experience on WhatsApp.

Business messaging is an area with real momentum and chat-based experiences like this will be the go-to way people and businesses communicate in the years to come,” Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO, Meta, said in a Facebook post.