Reliance Retail’s valuation has doubled to Rs 8.28 lakh crore at present from Rs 4.28 lakh crore in September 2020, said Isha Ambani, adding that RIL’s retail business is now among the top ten most-visited retailers in the world. “Global strategic and marquee investors have shown interest in Reliance Retail. Digital and new commerce sales contributed nearly Rs 50,000 crore in the financial year ending March 2023. Registered customers grew to nearly 25 crore, with over 78 crore footfalls in FY23,” she said while speaking at Reliance Industries’ 46th annual general meeting.
Based on the valuation, Mukesh Ambani added, Reliance Retail would have ranked among top 4 companies in India and top 10 retailers globally, with several marquee investors showing interest in the business.
Reliance Retail opened more than 3,300 new stores last year, taking the total count to 18,040, covering 6.56 crore sqft. Two-thirds of these stores, Isha Ambani added, are in tier-II, -III and smaller towns, which is a “testament to the commitment of making retail inclusive”.
Retail business had posted revenue at Rs 69,962 crore during the first quarter of FY24, up 19.5 per cent on-year, with fast-paced store additions and steady growth in footfalls. “The contribution of Digital and New Commerce initiatives is scaling up, delivering value to consumers and providing synergistic benefits to merchant partners,” it had said in a regulatory filing.
“New Commerce business grew phenomenally on the back of our omni-channel capabilities. The launch of JioMart on WhatsApp has been a phenomenal success with 9X growth of JioMart customers on WhatsApp since launch in 2022. JioMart on-boarded 25,000+ artisans, weavers and micro-entrepreneurs. 1.6 lakh products of artisans from 150+ cities are available on our platforms. We work with 2500+ handloom weavers, covering 50 craft clusters,” said Isha Ambani.
Reliance’s retail arm, had last week, announced a fresh investment of Rs 8,278 crore by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) for a 0.99 percent stake. The investment will value the firm at Rs 8.27 lakh crore.
Further, Isha Ambani reiterated, “We have built Reliance Retail business on the principle of 4 Cs – Collaboration, Consumer engagement, Creativity, and Care.” She said that the retail business has collaborated with more than 30 lakh merchants and serves 98 per cent of the country’s pin codes.
During FY 2022-23, Reliance Retail crossed the milestone of 100 crore transactions and received more than 78 crore footfalls and the registered customers grew to 25 crore. “We are delivering value to over 30 per cent of India’s addressable population,” said Isha Ambani.
Reliance Retail forayed into the personal care categories and also became the official retailer of GAP in India across all channels, in July 2022. The business expanded its product basket through acquisitions and partnerships at both domestic and global levels with Metro, Campa Cola, Pret A Manger, Lotus, Sosyo, Maliban, and Toffeeman among others. Reliance Retail entered into the beauty segment with the launch of its digital platform “Tira”. It also opened its flagship store in Mumbai. Most recently, RIL announced the launch of its youth-focused fashion retail format, Yousta with the opening of its first store in Hyderabad’s Sarath City Mall.