The juggernaut that is Reliance Retail

19 November 2022, Mumbai:

Reliance Retail is a part of an O2C giant conglomerate in its primacy this domestic retail giant has forayed with the resolute intent to take on biggies; eked out in a very measured and calibrated approach bridging gap lines to give birth to an ambitious retail juggernaut shaping the group's future as a growth engine to champion the cause.

The secret sauce of Reliance Retail has been the collaborative approach of the platform bringing together allied complementary forces in a very coherent fashion likes of alliance with the Facebook group launching a WhatsApp (WA) JioMart meaningful partnership, enabling on the back of it its valuable customer to browse the grocery catalogue online; WOW! excitingly in a jiffy facilitate adding products to a purchase-cart and help make a transaction of purchasing through the mass/popular messaging platform none other than WA.

Now & then

Besides, Reliance Retail added 11.1 million square feet of warehousing space during the year reliance retail acquisition spree was on right throughout & reliance retail brands was working 24 x 7 under reliance retail CEO, Akhilesh Prasad nearly doubling the warehousing space to 22.7 million square feet, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said in the annual report for FY22. In FY22, Reliance Retail added over 1.50 lakh jobs, taking its total headcount to 3.61 lakh.

As one TOI earlier this year on Reliance Retail sheds light," At the granular level as of June 30, 2022, Reliance Retail was operating 15,866 stores with an area of 45.5 million sq ft covering all corners of the country. In FY22, Reliance Industries invested Rs 30,000 crore in its retail business and added 2,500 stores. Giving a nuanced understanding of the unfolding story stating on average, Reliance Retail had added seven stores per day to drive home the point of how the juggernaut keeps rolling".

Furthermore, Isha Ambani alluded in her earlier press communication regard to the envisioned roadmap of this division," The primary strategy is to onboard millions of small merchants integrate with this one-stop/one point platform for the mutual meaningful progressive relationship starting as a mission and translating it to more of a trade movement handholding/giving impetus the partners to prosper.

Happy to report that since its launch merely two years, it is leapfrogged and grown its merchant partner base to in excess of a staggering 20 lakh, valuable partners. Putting it on record 'Reliance Retail' adds incredibly no less than 1.5 lakh/thereabouts partners month in and month out. The initiative of partnering with one crore merchants is well on its course. She further affirms that, as the platform strides to expand its footprints Pan-India, well aiming to serve way beyond 7,500 towns and 5 lakh villages in the following five years as a target,".

As the Rs 25,000-crore Reliance Retail initiative celebrates its first day in business, billing counters at the Reliance Fresh store in Banjara Hills got busy scanning barcodes. When put into practice, its blueprint has all the makings of a retail behemoth.

Raghu Pillai, president and CEO of Reliance Retail, announced opening the company's first batch of 11 stores in Hyderabad by stating, "In the next 18 to 24 months, we will reach the top 70 cities across several formats. We will introduce additional retail designs by March or April 2007, targeting markets like consumer durables, hypermarkets, music/entertainment, pharmacies, specialized shops, and lifestyle goods. More and more consumers of Reliance Brands are moving towards affordable luxury

One size does not fit all

The 2,300 square-foot formats called Reliance Fresh will stock high-frequency consumables. Other layouts, such as hypermarkets, may occupy up to 1,50,000 square feet. As it competes with mom-and-pop shops, corner vendors, and rival retail chains, the corporation is expected to institute an aggressive pricing policy for everyday consumables. Gunender Kapoor, CEO of Reliance Retail's food division, commented on the pricing approach: "For essential items, we will offer several price points. Our multiple outlets in the city will all have the same market-driven pricing policy.

We cannot solely rely on input from pilot stores in a single area, Mr. Kapoor said in response to the justification for expanding test stores in additional cities. People have incredibly regional cuisine preferences. While providing worldwide services, we also wish to cater to regional tastes. Pooja flowers are one extremely local offering at the Hyderabad store aimed at the neighborhood.

The Supply Chain Conundrum

Reliance Retail intends to focus most of its expenditures on improving the supply chain and backend integration, which are the company's foundation. "What you see is just a tiny fraction of what we have accomplished. We've put a lot of work into the backend operations," Mr. Pillai said, referring to the first store in Hyderabad's affluent Banjara Hills neighborhood, which has long served as a testing ground for various goods and services.

It's interesting to note that the corporation is also considering trading with the trade to profit from its supply chain investments. The company will launch Ranger Farms, its wholesale format, in the fresh market to serve pushcart sellers and small retailers.

Focusing on an omni channel approach

Reliance Retail’s omnichannel platform Ajio is a big beneficiary of this robust online-driven strategy. Reliance’s sectorial figures are impressive. In fiscal 2021-22, almost 2,500 stores were added, with a whopping 42 million sq. ft. of the operational area. With 200 million registered customers, 520 million walk-ins, and 4.5 billion online visits that is registering a 2.3 per cent increase year-on-year and 600,000 online order deliveries, makes Reliance’s Retail an act difficult to match.

5G network to drive up business; Unlike many brands, Reliance Retail does not feel that the writing is on the wall for brick-and-mortar although it is focusing on driving e-commerce on a grand scale. The commitment of $25 billion towards the soon-to-be-launched Jio 5G network will further consolidate and strengthen the e-commerce division.

Pathway to Success

To bring enormous benefits to Indians, Pillai continued, RRVL's objective is to energize the country's retail industry through an inclusive strategy that serves millions of customers while empowering millions of farmers and micro, small, and medium-sized businesses.

According to RIL, RRVL's "New Commerce strategy" has also begun a revolutionary digitalization of 20 million small and dispersed merchants, allowing them to employ technology tools and a productive supply chain infrastructure to provide customers with a better value proposition. Analysts anticipate that Ambani's deal-making binge will continue regardless.

Reliance has an inherent advantage to cater to both with its extensive portfolio of brands and products. Reliance will need to not only create a viable product-retail mix but connect with the aspirational aspects in the consumer's mind to compete with the international brands."

Taking on this challenge, Reliance Retail is confident of making its presence felt. It is currently the largest fashion and lifestyle retailer in the country with a network of nearly 4,000 stores across segments from ethnic and values fashion to luxury brands. It also runs Marks & Spencer stores in India and recently partnered with Gap.

Since the announcement that Reliance Retail was entering the tough FMCG market earlier this year, it is not a surprise that the retail giant would enter the fast fashion market. And why not the market value of textiles and apparel across India in the financial year 2021 was USD 80 billion and this value was estimated to reach USD 190 billion by 2026.

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