- The retail vertical sold 20 million electronic units, 160 million garments, 2.6 billion units of grocery among other items last financial year, according to the annual report by Reliance Industries.
The retail vertical sold 20 million electronic units, 160 million garments, 2.6 billion units of grocery among other items last financial year, according to the annual report by Reliance Industries.
Reliance is already the largest retail chain in the country, but Chairman Mukesh Ambani — with a net worth of about $72.4 billion — wants more and leaves no stone unturned, whether adding physical stores or technological power (including WhatsApp ‘s reach and scale) to its JioMart e-commerce platform.
With a net worth of $72.4 billion, Chairman Mukesh Ambani leaves no stone unturned — whether adding physical stores or technical resources to JioMart. So far this year, the RIL stock has risen 25.8 percent, analysts expect even more from RIL in the coming months.
While the big-ticket fundraising by Reliance Jio has caught the market’s fancy, the next round of unlocking potential value is likely to come from the retail vertical, which is also headed for an initial public offering (IPO) soon.
While a deal to buy out Kishore Biyani’s struggling Future Retail is being worked out, here’s a look at the size and scope of Ambani’s existing retail unit, which is a giant in its own right. Reliance ‘s involvement with this deal would have a “huge effect” on the retail sector — both online and offline. Future Retail has more than 1,500 retail stores in various formats through brands such as Big Bazaar, Nilgiris, and Easyday, while Future Lifestyle has 300 stores through Central and Brand Factory brands.
To start with Reliance Retail employs almost 1.4 lakh people, and has nearly 11,800 stores across India selling everything from food and grocery, consumer electronics, fashion, and lifestyle. Adding stores to Future Retail will add 1,500 outlets to the network immediately.
Reliance Retail sales and earnings are twice as high as they were three years ago. Reliance Retail reported an operating profit of some 2,062 crores in the last quarter, even though March was a boring month, up 19.8 percent from the same quarter of the previous year.
It has added 1,500 stores and 30 percent to its overall retail inventory in the full year ending March 2020. During the year, Reliance Retail saw 640 million footfalls, and has a registered customer base of 125 million, up by 40 percent year on year. The retail company an average adds three stores a day, according to the report.
