Despite the Covid pandemic’s deadening effect on retail business, Reliance Retail has been opening stores in tier 2 cities, as per UBS. At the same time, the company is also launching a SuperApp to bring all online services under one umbrella.

As per Jefferies, Reliance Retail has added a handful of apps, both organically and inorganically, with Just Dial a recent one. RR is looking to integrate these under a SuperApp, once there is clarity on the new e-com regulations. RR reportedly also intends to integrate this with WhatsApp.

At the time of investment by FaceBook in the Jio platform, RR and WhatsApp had decided to work together on a merchant partnership. There was a pilot undertaken to allow users to order on RR through WhatsApp, which had to be delayed. Analysts said China has seen great success in integrating commerce on WeChat, and possibly Reliance Retail is trying to replicate that model.