- Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail has topped the list of’ 50 fastest-growing retailers worldwide between FY 2013-2018.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail has topped the list of’ 50 fastest-growing retailers worldwide between FY 2013-2018′ in the Deloitte Global Retailing Powers ranking for 2020. In its annual report, Deloitte ranked 250 businesses worldwide based on their FY2018 revenues. The Indian retail giant has this year secured the 56th position against the previous year’s 94th place.
“India-based retailer Reliance Retail jumped from sixth in the FY2017 ranking to the first position in FY2018, posting a CAGR of 55.8 percent,” Deloitte report said.
Reliance Retail is the only Indian company to be featured within it, according to the report. More than half of the retail outlets were from Japan, and nearly a quarter are from China and Hong Kong.
Reliance Retail reported USD 18.5 billion in retail sales in FY2018, a huge 88.4 percent increase in its output in FY2017. “The retailer also became the country’s first Indian retailer to operate over 10,000 stores,” it said.
“Factors that helped the company to achieve top spot were a strong focus on boosting growth in e-commerce through its Ajio.com website; a drive for online smartphone sales and other consumer electronics; an aggressive pricing strategy across its offline stores; the acquisition of Hamleys, UK-based toy retailer; and new store openings,” the report said.
Deloitte Global Retailing Powers 2020 is led by Wal-Mart Stores Inc, followed by Costco Wholesale Corp. Amazon jumped to third place with the highest growth in retail sales among the top 10 retailers. Kroger (US) is the only retailer to have no foreign operations in the top 10.
Speaking on the launch of the report, Deloitte India spokesperson said, “Although the economy is facing a prolonged slowdown, the resilience of the global retail sector is likely to be reflected in India as well, especially given the tax sops announced in the recent Union Budget for 2020 to boost investment.
‘The main steps taken by the government, including the liberalization of FDI rules for selected sectors; a rollback of the much-debated tax surcharge on foreign portfolio investors; incentives to help several industries; bank consolidation; an amendment to the insolvency and bankruptcy code to allow financial companies to be resolved; and a substantial reduction in the corporate tax rate, are sure to demonstrate in the Indian economy leading to the boost of customer confidence.”
Also, the country’s young profile and increasing reliance on convenience through access to technology and digital platforms make the country one of the world’s rising retail destinations, the spokesperson said.
Key trends and the report’s highlights indicate that retail growth in the Asia Pacific region continues to be driven by shifting shopping preferences among rising middle-class consumers, especially young millennials, and that physical retailers ‘ adoption of e-commerce and m-commerce.
In an attempt to compete with Amazon, FMCG retailers have been using tactics such as relying more on e-commerce, buy-online-pickup, cashier-less shops, opening more convenience stores, voice-enabled shopping, and doorway delivery, it said.
Despite trade tensions and increasing confusion around tariff policies, global retailers have demonstrated remarkable stability at the aggregate level, according to the study. While the highest annual revenue growth in FY 2018 was reported to be in hardlines and leisure goods, the most profitable product category was found to be apparel and accessories, like every other year.
Speaking of the macro-level global perspective, Ira Kalish, Deloitte Global Chief Economist said, “The outlook for the global economy and retail sector in 2020 is uncertain. Overall economic growth is likely to be subdued but positive, with lower growth in consumer spending and inflation remaining low in most countries. BALBAL ANZ.
