Reliance Retail's digital drive enables it to dominate consumer space

07 September 2022, Mumbai:

Featured as one of the top 10 retailers in Asia, the $100 billion plus Reliance Industries is in an enviable position in the retail sector. Headed by Isha Ambani with the able support of her father Mukesh Ambani, the conglomerate’s consumer division was valued at over $25 billion as of March 31, 2022. The retail division has been acknowledged as a major driver of India’s retail market estimated at $850 billion.

Focusing on an oimni channel approach

Reliance’s sectorial figures are impressive. In fiscal 2021-22, almost 2,500 stores were added, with a whopping 42 million sq. ft. of operational area. With 200 million registered customers, 520 million walk-ins, 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. JioMart alone covers 260 towns across the country, catering to fast moving consumables that are attractively priced and offer exceptional value-for-money deals.

Mukesh Ambani expressed confidence in his daughter’s leadership, strategic skills and ability to guide the retail division to greater heights. Retail advisory consultant Pankaj Renjhen lauded the conglomerate’s decision to expand further in the retail sector as it already has a robust distribution and point-of-sale network in place. Renjhen points out, as India is clearly divided into brand and value conscious consumers Reliance has an inherent advantage to cater to both with their extensive portfolio of brands and products.

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. The Jio 5G network has claimed to be the fastest in roll-out as it intends to go nation-wide by the end of 2022. As India has the world’s largest WhatsApp market with nearly 500 million users, Jio 5G will play this to the advantage of Reliance Retail. The tie-up with Meta is another advantage the division is confident about, leveraging its massive outreach across all segments within India.

Reliance Retail’s omnichannel platform Ajio is a big beneficiary of this robust online-driven strategy. A much-loved online fashion destination, Ajio has achieved the dream of fashion retailers – repeat purchases account for 80 per cent of its sales. The e-commerce initiative Ajio Business is partnered with merchants across 3,500 towns, providing them access to 8,000 regional, national and in-house labels. The year ending March 31, 2022 yielded sales over 430 million garments. As demand for luxury and premium brands grow in India, Ajio is in a good place as Reliance has a glittering portfolio of international fashion brands as their local distributors.

However, high-end Indian fashion labels in its portfolio haven’t had a dream run at all. A cumulative loss of Rs 119 crores has the organization restructuring its strategy to either nurture or discontinue these loss-making labels.

As the festive season starts and continues until the end of the year, Reliance Retail is out there penetrating new segments, retaining and boosting its customer base and most of all, ruling the roost with a firm hand.

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