Reliance Retail is an Indian retail company and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Founded in 2006, it is the largest retailer in India in terms of revenue.[5] Its retail outlets offer foods, groceries, apparel, footwear, toys, home improvement products, electronic goods, and farm implements and inputs. As of 2023,[update] it has over 245,000 employees at 18,000 store locations in 7,000 towns.[1] Apart from physical stores, the company also sells products on its e-commerce channels.
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| ISIN | INE002A01018 |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founder | Mukesh Ambani |
| Headquarters | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
Number of locations | 18,836 (2024)[1] |
Area served | India |
Key people |
|
| Services | |
| Revenue |  ₹306,786 crore (US$38 billion) (2024)[2] |
| ₹23,040 crore (US$2.9 billion) (2024) [2] | |
| ₹11,101 crore (US$1.4 billion) (2024)[2] | |
| Total assets | ₹168,311 crore (US$21 billion) (2023)[3] |
| Owner |
|
Number of employees | 245,581 (2023)[4] |
| Parent | Reliance Industries |
| Subsidiaries |
|
| Website | relianceretail |
As of August 2023,[update] the company is valued at $100 billion.[6][7]
History edit
In August 2021, Reliance Retail announced that it would acquire the retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing business of Future Group for ₹24,713 crore (US$3.34 billion).[8] However, the deal was called off in April 2022 after a lengthy legal dispute between Future Group and Amazon.[9]
In September 2020, it was announced that American investment firm Silver Lake has bought 1.75% stake in Reliance Retail for ₹7,500 crore (US$940 million) valuing the business at ₹4.28 trillion (US$54 billion).[10] On 23 September, it was announced that KKR has bought 1.28% stake for ₹5,500 crore valuing the venture at ₹4.28 trillion or $58 billion.[11]
In October 2020, Singapore's GIC bought a 1.22% stake for $752 million, while TPG acquired a 0.41% stake for $250 million giving Reliance Retail a pre-money valuation of $58.5 billion.[12]
On 7 October 2021, the company announced its partnership with 7-Eleven to open its stores in India.[13] The announcement came a day after Future Group announced the end of its partnership with 7-Eleven, citing the inability to meet the target of opening stores and payment of franchisee fees. The first 7-Eleven in India opened in Mumbai.[14]
On 6 January 2022, Reliance Retail invested $200 million in Dunzo for a 25.8% stake.[15]
In 2022, soft drink brand Campa Cola was acquired by Reliance Industries for ₹22 crores. In March 2023, Reliance Consumer Products (RCPL), the fast-moving consumer goods arm and subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), announced the relaunch of Campa Cola in three variants (cola, orange and lemon) at select stores.[16]
In February 2023, Reliance Retail began accepting India's central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Digital Rupee.[17]
In August 2023, the Qatar Investment Authority invested $1 billion in Reliance Retail for a 0.99% stake in the company at a $100 billion valuation.[6] In October 2023, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority acquired a 0.59% stake in the company with an investment of nearly $600 million.[18]
In May 2024, it was announced Reliance Retail plans to sell Jio Leasing Services Ltd (JLSL), a subsidiary of Jio Financial Services, customer premises equipment, devices and telecom equipment worth $4.32 billion.[19]
Reliance Retail has started a pilot program on Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) using the Fynd retail platform. The pilot is live in Madurai. Reliance Retail will scale it up to five locations if it is successful, and eventually to 100 outlets on ONDC. All of Reliance Retail's brands will gradually launch on ONDC.[20]
Financials edit
Reliance Retail had a turnover of ₹337 billion in the financial year 2016–17. Reliance Retail announced revenues of ₹450 billion for the nine months ended December 2017 for financial year 2017–18, showing over a 90% jump from the corresponding previous period. The company also reported a profit of ₹7 billion for the period.[21][22][23]
Subsidiaries and divisions edit
There are over 45 subsidiaries and divisions of Reliance Retail.[24]
Major divisions edit
| No. | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reliance Fresh | Retail outlets of fruits, vegetables and groceries.[25] |
| 2 | Reliance Smart/Smart Point | Reliance Smart offers fresh produce, bakery, dairy products, home, and personal care products, general merchandise, fruits, vegetables, and groceries.[26] |
| 3 | Reliance Digital | Consumer electronics retail stores. It had 689 stores in October 2014.[27] |
| 4 | Jio Stores | Small-format connectivity retailer which sells Jio connections, phones and accessories. It had over 7,900 stores as of 2022.[28] |
| 5 | Reliance Jewels | Jewelry retail; it had 77 showrooms in 2018.[29] |
| 6 | Reliance Trends | Apparel and clothing. It had 557 stores in 2019.[30] |
| 7 | Reliance Footprint | Footwear retail format which was launched in November 2007.[31] |
| 8 | AJIO | E-commerce, fashion shopping website, officially launched at the Lakme Fashion Week SS16.[32] |
| 9 | JioMart | JioMart is the e-commerce venture of Reliance Retail that provides grocery delivery. It operates in 200 cities in India and was started as a joint venture between Reliance Retail and Jio Platforms.[33] |
| 10 | Azorte | In 2022, Reliance Retail launched fashion stores under Azorte brand, under which it retails footwear, fashion accessories, home and beauty products.[34] |
| 11 | Tira | Tira is an omnichannel beauty retailer launched in April 2023.[35] |
Acquisitions edit
| No. | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamleys | Hamleys, one of the oldest and largest toy retailers in the world, was acquired by Reliance Retail in 2019 for £67.96 million.[36] |
| 2 | Shri Kannan Departmental Store | Shri Kannan Departmental Store is a retail store chain that sells fruits, vegetables, dairy, staples, home, and personal care, and general merchandise. It operates 29 stores in Coimbatore and was acquired by Reliance Retail in 2020 for ₹152.5 crore.[37] |
| 3 | Netmeds | Netmeds is a licensed e-pharmacy based in Chennai. In 2020, Reliance Retail acquired a 60% stake in Netmeds' parent Vitalic for approximately ₹620 crore.[38] |
| 4 | Urban Ladder | Urban Ladder is an omnichannel furniture and decor retailer based out of Bangalore, India. In 2020, Reliance Retail acquired a 96% stake in Urban Ladder for ₹182 crore.[39][40] |
| 5 | Addverb | Addverb is a Noida-based robotics company in which Reliance Retail bought a 55% stake for $132 million in 2021.[41] |
| 6 | Amante | Amante is a retailer and wholesale distributor of lingerie in India and Sri Lanka, acquired by Reliance Retail in 2021.[42] |
| 7 | Zivame | Bangalore-based Zivame operates an online lingerie store for women. It has also ventured into other segments such as activewear, sleepwear and shapewear. According to Zivame's website, it has 30-plus retail stores and a presence in more than 800 partner stores across the country. In 2021, Reliance Retail acquired an 85% stake in the company for ₹1,200 crore.[43] |
| 8 | Clovia | Clovia is an Indian innerwear and loungewear company. In 2022, Reliance Retail acquired a 89% stake in the company for $125 million.[44] |
| 9 | Justdial | In 2021, Reliance Retail acquired a 66% stake in local search company Justdial for ₹5,710 crore (US$770.58 million).[45] |
| 10 | Milkbasket | Milkbasket is a subscription-based daily micro-delivery service. In October 2021, Reliance Retail Ventures acquired a 96.49% stake in Milkbasket for $40 million.[46][47] |
| 11 | Metro Cash & Carry India | In March 2023, Reliance Retail completed the acquisition of Metro Cash & Carry India for a cash consideration of ₹2,850 crore (US$360 million). After the acquisition, Reliance Retail got access of over 3 million B2B customers of Metro Cash & Carry including 1 million frequent buyers.[48] |
| 12 | V-Retail | In 2023, Reliance Retail acquired V-Retail, a footwear and apparel retail company which operated 32 stores under the name of Centro across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.[49] |
Products and services edit
Private label products edit
Although Reliance Retail's grocery businesses primarily markets products of third party FMCG players, they also sell inhouse brands including: Best Farms, Good Life, Enzo, Mopz, Expelz and Home One.[50][51][52]