Reliance Retail, the country’s largest organised retailer, is looking to double its business in the next three to four years, Isha Ambani, executive director of the retail unit of Reliance Industries, said on Thursday.
Laying out the blueprint to achieve this target, Isha, 32, said the company would focus on scaling up its operations and strengthening its omni-channel capabilities across formats. The retailer would also work closely with small and medium vendors, regional brands and new-age startups to provide them with a platform for growth, even as it focused on multiple formats and brands.
Among the plans for the future include ambitions to enter luxury jewellery retailing and scaling up the 7-Eleven store chain as a leading convenience destination. Reliance Retail had also established 18 domestic and three international design centres to ensure designs were locally relevant, Isha, who was inducted into the RIL board along with her brothers Akash and Anant a year ago, said.
While RIL provided no road map with regard to a potential listing of the retail business during its AGM, sector analysts said with the business looking to double over the next few years, value unlocking could be postponed for now.
Reliance Retail, whose FY24 gross revenue stood at Rs 3.06 trillion, a year-on-year growth of 17.8%, has nearly 19,000 own stores covering nearly 80 million sq ft of retail space over 7,000 cities, with four million kirana partners, and a bouquet of digital platforms.
Apparel brands such as Avaasa, Netplay and DNMX had each surpassed the Rs 2,000-crore annual sales milestone in FY24, Isha said, while John Players and Teamspirit had crossed Rs 1,000 crore in sales during the period.
Isha also said the retailer’s broader jewels business was expanding its design capabilities to offer products tailored to specific occasions and regional tastes, launching both regional and national collections. “With a curated, design-led experience, we are exploring the fashion jewellery and accessories segment to broaden our reach,” she said.
While discussing beauty, she said the company was building its presence through an omni-channel strategy across multiple formats like Tira, Sephora, Kiko Milano and Blushlace. “We are also enhancing our beauty and personal care offerings across our existing formats—grocery, fashion and pharma —both online and offline. Our investment in Insight Cosmetics is enabling us to create our own brand portfolio,” she said.
Ambani also highlighted that the company’s investments in brands like Kalanikethan, Zivame, Clovia, Amante and Urban Ladder had given it a strong foothold in categories such as apparels and furniture.
While discussing the grocery business, Isha said it was not only the largest but also one of the fastest-growing retailers, expanding at 2.5 times the rate of the rest of modern trade.
“Our growth is driven by our focus on smaller towns, where over two-thirds of our new stores are opening. In many of these markets, we are the first modern retailer to establish a presence. At the same time, we are selectively expanding our premium formats, Fresh Signature and Freshpik, in large cities, continually innovating to enhance the consumer experience,” she said.
Isha also said that Reliance Consumer had re-launched products such as Campa Cola, Lotus Chocolates and Sosyo to drive sales growth.
“We are focused on creating high-quality products at affordable prices to drive greater consumption across India. The early success of these (relaunched) brands gives us confidence that we are on the right path,” she added.
From: financialexpress
Financial News
