Reliance Retail, the retail arm of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd, said on Thursday it is expanding its quick commerce network and fashion verticals as it seeks to consolidate its position across key consumption categories, ahead of its much-awaited initial public offering.
“Reliance Retail delivered resilient performance during this quarter, driven by our relentless focus on operational excellence, geographical expansion and sharper product portfolio. Our continued investments in cutting-edge technologies and differentiated product offerings have enabled us to serve our customers better and scale with agility,” said Isha Ambani, Executive Dir`ector, Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd.
The retailer added 388 stores during the quarter, taking its total store count to over 19,592 in the June quarter. Gross revenue rose 11.3% from a year earlier, supported by steady performance across grocery, fashion, and consumer electronics, the company’s chief financial officer Dinesh Taluja said in a post-earnings call on July 18.
Quick-com boost
Reliance’s quick commerce platform, JioMart, saw daily orders grow 68 percent sequentially and 175 percent on a year-on-year basis. The company said it now delivers to over 1,000 cities and 4,300 pin codes, making it the fastest-growing digital grocery platform in India. About 21 percent of orders now include fruits and vegetables, compared to 9 percent six months ago.
“There’s a lot of stickiness which is coming in, a lot of repeat behaviour which is coming in, which is driving traffic onto the platform, he said, adding that the company will focus on habit-forming categories like fruits and vegetables, which would see repeat orders.
The company has also launched JioRush, a hyperlocal delivery service promising four-hour delivery, which is live in six cities and has shown bill values 50–60% higher than regular transactions, Taluja said.
Jewellery, fashion and consumer brands
In jewellery, he noted changing trends due to rising gold prices. “The business is on steady growth, but obviously there is an impact on the significant increase in gold prices. In volume terms, the demand for gold has gone down,” he said.
“To make it more affordable, especially for everyday wear, we are offering 18-carat jewellery as an alternative to 20–22 carat jewellery.”
The fashion business, which had a “tough year” previously, showed signs of recovery. RRVL is on a spree to modernise its stores to make them more appealing for the younger audiences, improving footfall.
“We have also taken several initiatives over the last few quarters… We’ve also shrunk the design to shelf cycle to 30 days. So there’s a lot more freshness in our stores and we’re using a lot of AI to come up with designs which are in trend,” Taluja said.
“Our approach of winning in every price format is working across price points and across formats,” he added. The company is looking to focus on building a lot of non-apparel categories like beauty and personal care to improve the bill value from the customer who is buying apparel.
The consumer brands business also reported strong performance. “Our revenues were up 2x on a YOY basis. This gives us confidence in our ability to deliver on the vision which our chairman laid down in the last AGM of doubling our business every three to four years.”
Taluja confirmed that the FMCG vertical will be carved out. “This business is being de-merged… into a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Once the regulatory approvals are in place, it will become an independent business.”
Q1 performance
Net profit rose to Rs 3,271 crore for the quarter ended June 30 from Rs 2,549 crore in the same period last year, the company said on July 18.
The company’s consolidated gross revenue came in at Rs 84,171 crore, a 11 percent rise from Rs 75,615 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, revenue declined 5 per cent from Rs 88,620 crore in the March quarter.
Retail revenue was projected to rise 20.8 percent year-on-year and 3.1 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 91,380 crore, with an EBITDA margin of 7.6 percent, according to Moneycontrol survey of nine analysts.
Its EBITDA margin rose 20 basis points to 8.7 per cent from 8.5 per cent in the same quarter last year.
Reliance Retail has a presence across diverse categories including electronics, groceries, apparel, footwear, jewellery, eyewear, pharmaceuticals, and handicrafts. It operates stores under well-known brands like Reliance Fresh, Reliance Digital, Trends, and MyJio.
“Business continued to focus on expanding non-apparel categories like footwear, beauty and personal care and accessories to offer wider choices to customers,” RRVL said in a statement.
Reliance Retail’s registered customer base grew 13.3 percent from a year earlier to 358 million, while total transactions rose 16.5 percent to 389 million.
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