International journal of basic and applied research

www.pragatipublication.com
ISSN 2249-3352 (P) 2278-0505 (E)
Cosmos Impact Factor-5.86

Retailing in India: A successful Story of Reliance Retail Ltd.

Dr. Poonam Mahajan*

Assistant Professor
Department of Commerce
GNDU College, Narot Jaimal Singh
Mrs Sukhjinder Kaur**
Assistant professor
Department of Commerce
GNDU College, Sujanpur

Abstract

The Retail Industry has embarked its esteemed presence in the minds of huge population of
India where it is evolving from the brick-and-mortar model to adopt technology for connecting with
consumers. The aim is to achieve a complete seamless customer experience. It‟s a new world for both
retailers and the customers where the latter is the king. The adoption of Internet technology,
minimization of time gap between demand and supply period, mergers and acquisitions, inflow of
FDI in retail segment, introduction of E-commerce, M-Commerce, entry of global retailers in Indian
market, the growing luxury market, the increasing acceptance of private labels etc. are the key
factors of growth of retail segment in India. The present study aims to conceptualize the successful
story of Reliance Retail Ltd, the leading company in retail segment in India in 2016.The annual report
has been used as a secondary source of data. The recent year 2016 has been chosen as time period of
the study. The study provides details about the milestones of the present company in the retail sector
in India.

Introduction

India‟s economy is the world‟s 7th largest by nominal GDP and the 3rd largest by Purchasing
Power Parity (PPP). India is one of the fastest growing major economies in the world with an average
growth rate of more than 7% over the last decade. The growth prospects of the Indian economy are
positive due to its young population, corresponding low dependency ratio, healthy savings and
investment rates and increasing integration into the global economy. India has topped the World
Bank‟s growth outlook for the first time with the economy having grown 7.6% in FY 2015-16. India is

1268 Received: 5 May Revised: 13 May Accepted: 22 May

Index in Cosmos
June 2018 Volume 8 Number 6
UGC APPROVED
 International journal of basic and applied research
www.pragatipublication.com
ISSN 2249-3352 (P) 2278-0505 (E)
Cosmos Impact Factor-5.86

the 5th largest retail market in the world. Modern retail contributes to a mere 10% of the retail market
in India, but is estimated to experience steady growth (Source: Retail 2020: Retrospect, Reinvent,
Rewrite by BCG and RAI, 2015).

The e-commerce sector in India is expected to be in the range of US$22 billion in 2015. E-
Tailing, which comprises of online retail and online marketplaces, has become the fastest-growing
segment in the larger market, having grown at a compounded annual growth rate of around 56% over
2009-2014. The size of the e-Tail market is pegged at US$6 billion in 2015. (Source: e-commerce in
India by PWC).

The Liberalization, Privatization and globalization policy being introduced in 1991 lead to
develop an idea of online and offline market for the customer segment in India. The factors such as
favorable demographics, rising disposable income, exposure to international lifestyle are some of the
reasons contributed to the development of retail industry in India. The word “retail” means sale of
goods and services from individuals or businesses to the end-user. Retailing can be defined as a
distribution channel function, where an organization, buying the products from supplying firms or
manufacturing the products themselves, sells these directly to consumers.

The Indian retail industry is divided into organised and unorganised sectors. Organised
retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers, that is, those who are registered
for sales tax, income tax, etc. These include the corporate-backed hypermarkets and retail chains
and also the privately owned large retail businesses. Unorganised retailing, on the other hand, refers
to the traditional formats of low-cost retailing, for example, the local kirana shops, owner manned
general stores, paan/beedi shops, convenience stores, hand cart and pavement vendors, etc.

India‟s retail sector is wearing new clothes where traditional markets are making way for new
formats such as departmental stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialty stores. Western-
style malls have begun appearing in metros and second-rung cities alike, introducing the Indian
consumer to an unparalleled shopping experience. The market is highly fragmented, with an
estimated 15 million traditional Kirana stores making up the unorganised sector and contributing to
nearly 90% of the estimated US$600 billion retail market. This very structure in combination with an
improving economy and growth drivers such as favourable demographics, urbanisation and shift in
consumer shopping behaviour has opened a large window of opportunity for modern retail formats to
grow. By 2020, the Indian retail market is expected to nearly double to US$1 trillion (Source: Retail
2020: Retrospect, Reinvent, Rewrite by BCG and RAI, 2015).

1269 Received: 5 May Revised: 13 May Accepted: 22 May

Index in Cosmos
June 2018 Volume 8 Number 6
UGC APPROVED
 International journal of basic and applied research
www.pragatipublication.com
ISSN 2249-3352 (P) 2278-0505 (E)
Cosmos Impact Factor-5.86

The table 1 shows the organised and unorganised retail market structure in India. The Retail
industry not only ensures regular availability of goods along with right price, ambience and good
quality all under one roof meanwhile also offering a large number of job opportunities. Due to the
presence of huge potential, many multinational and domestic companies have made debut in the
retail sector. With the evolving urban lifestyle and growing income of consumers, the retail industry
has shown tremendous growth has let myriad of retail companies step into the Indian markets.

Table 1 (Retail Market Structure in India)

Retail Segment Service

Hyper marts/supermarkets
Mom-and-pop stores
Departmental stores
Convenience stores
Shopping malls
E-trailers
Vending
Category killers
Specialty stores
(source: sikri and wadhwa, 2012, p.5, Asia Pacific journal of marketing and management review
vol.1 issue 1, september 2012, ISSN 2319-2836)
Large self-servicing outlets offering products from a variety of
categories.
Family owned business catering to small sections; they are
individually handled retail outlets and have a personal touch.
General retail merchandisers offering quality products and services
Located in residential areas with slightly higher prices goods due to
the convenience offered.
The biggest form of retail in India, malls offers customers a mix of all
types of products and services including entertainment and food
under a single roof.
The retailers are providing online buying and selling of products
and services. Discount stores: these are factory outlets that give
discount on the MRP.
It is a relatively new entry, in the retail sector. Here beverages,
snacks and other small items can be bought via vending machine.
Small specialty stores that offer a variety of categories. They are
known as category killers as they focus on specific categories, such
as electronics and sporting goods. This is also known as Multi Brand
Outlets or MBO's.
Retail chains dealing in specific categories and provide deep
assortment. Mumbai's Crossword Book Store and RPG's Music World
are a couple of example.

1270 Received: 5 May Revised: 13 May Accepted: 22 May

Index in Cosmos
June 2018 Volume 8 Number 6
UGC APPROVED
 International journal of basic and applied research
www.pragatipublication.com
ISSN 2249-3352 (P) 2278-0505 (E)
Cosmos Impact Factor-5.86

Start up of the Reliance Retail Ltd.

Reliance‟s businesses and operations have a deep and wide impact across Indian society.
Over the past five decades, Reliance has become an integral part of people‟s lives, present in their
midst, in every moment, keeping them connected, safe and better. RIL is India‟s largest private sector
company on key financial parameters. It is a significant global player in the integrated energy value
chain, and has a growing presence in the retail and digital services in India. Reliance Retail is the
retail initiative of Reliance Industries and an epicenter of its consumer facing businesses. It was
established in 2006. In short span of time, it has forged strong and enduring bonds with millions of
consumers by providing them unlimited choice, outstanding value proposition, superior quality and
unmatched experience.

Area of operations

It is the biggest player of the Indian Retail Sector, stand at the first position in the list of top 10
retail companies in India 2016. It deals with various good and services like consumer goods, food
items, lifestyle, fashion, consumer, electronics home decor, educational products etc. The company
operates more than 1,700 stores across the nation, having a retail space of over 1 Crore square feet.
Reliance Fresh, Reliance Digital, Reliance Trends and Reliance Jewels are some of the divisions of the
company.

Reliance Retail Ltd. has earmarked its significant milestones over the past couple of years and
continues the high growth trajectory. It caters to over 3.5 million customers every week. With over Rs
20,000 crore of revenue, it is India‟s largest retailer and has sustained a growth. It added 624 new
stores taking total stores to 3,245 stores, spread over 12.8 million square feet during financial year
2015-16 and it is currently operating 3,383 stores.

Financial Position of Reliance Retail Ltd.

Reliance Retail Ltd. has maintained its focus on profitability and sustainable growth despite
undertaking an accelerated store expansion. The four key strategic dimensions, viz. widest coverage,
substantially superior network quality, transformational data capacity and affordable services are key

1271 Received: 5 May Revised: 13 May Accepted: 22 May

Index in Cosmos
June 2018 Volume 8 Number 6
UGC APPROVED
 International journal of basic and applied research
www.pragatipublication.com
ISSN 2249-3352 (P) 2278-0505 (E)
Cosmos Impact Factor-5.86

elements to attract large customer base and in turn higher profitability and growth. Fig. 1 shows the
turnover position of Reliance Retail Ltd over a period of 5 Financial Years.

Fig 1 shows that Reliance Retail reported a turnover of Rs 21,612 crore against Rs17,640 crore
during the same period last year, registering a robust growth of 22.5%. Revenue Compounded
Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the last five years has sustained at 29%.

Fig. 1

25000
21612

20000
17640

14556
15000
10845
Turnover (Crore)
10000
7636

5000

0
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16

Source: Annual Report Reliance Industries Ltd. 2016

Strategic Initiatives by Reliance Retail Ltd.

Reliance Retail has grown to cater to millions of customers and thousands of farmers and
vendors. It opted following strategies to attract customers and maintaining loyalty and brand image in
the mind of its customer base.

1272 Received: 5 May Revised: 13 May Accepted: 22 May

Index in Cosmos
June 2018 Volume 8 Number 6
UGC APPROVED
 International journal of basic and applied research
www.pragatipublication.com
ISSN 2249-3352 (P) 2278-0505 (E)
Cosmos Impact Factor-5.86

1. Multi-channel strategy: Reliance Retail has adopted a multi-retail concept strategy there by
offering products to consumers across the country to serve customers across diverse
shopping needs. Reliance Retail fosters to rapid adaptation to ever changing external
environment whether it pertains to technology evolution, consumer experience or the way
shopping habits are changing. This has helped Reliance Retail in maintaining its market
leadership by anticipating and responding quickly to ever evolving customer and market
dynamics. Reliance Retail has emerged as the partner of choice for International brands and
has established exclusive partnerships with many revered international brands. Reliance
Retail has built state-of-the-art infrastructure supporting business systems and supply chain.
Its highly trained people and robust processes ensure consistent execution. Reliance Retail
has adopted multi-channel strategy and has integrated „offline-online‟ model to truly
differentiate the customer experience.
2. Multi Retail Concept: Reliance Retail operates chain of convenience stores, supermarkets,
wholesale cash-and-carry and specialty stores.
3. Customer Centricity: Reliance Retail has embraced customer service as a way of life in
everything it does to operate its business. Continued focus on training has fostered a culture
of customer centricity. Reliance Retail‟s Customer Loyalty programme enjoys patronage of
over 30 million registered members. The valuable insights generated through this critical tool
help in understanding and serving the needs of customers. Starting up to a digital life.
4. Private Label Strategy: Reliance Retail has been continuously investing in developing a
compelling range of private label products across multiple categories. Private label plays
very important role in the business by bridging the category gaps in the offerings, delivering
higher customer value and profitability.
5. Building Value Chain: Reliance Retail has a far-sighted and a proactive approach in value
chain management. It has constantly focused on identifying and investing in opportunities that
deliver superior shared values and positive impact to all the stakeholders of the value chain.
Reliance Retail in every aspect of its business has had a transformational impact whether it is
through a robust food supply chain from farm to shelf or in creating a sustainable fashion
value chain from fabric to fashion.
6. Innovation: Reliance Retail has the ability to embrace global consumer trends and adapt to
them to offer coherent products and service to its customers. Innovation of new products has
provided it a competitive edge over its peers which can be seen from growing share of
private labels in overall sales.

1273 Received: 5 May Revised: 13 May Accepted: 22 May

Index in Cosmos
June 2018 Volume 8 Number 6
UGC APPROVED
 International journal of basic and applied research
www.pragatipublication.com
ISSN 2249-3352 (P) 2278-0505 (E)
Cosmos Impact Factor-5.86

Reliance Retail business in India

Since its year of inception in 2006, it gained its reputation in the minds of customers and
expanded operations in many areas. It has been explained in the following table 2.

Table 2
Reliance Retail Business in India
Owned Reliance Retail Organised Retail
Reliance Fresh Food & Grocery Specialty Store Fresh vegetables, grocery, general and
convenience merchandise
Reliance Smart Hypermarket Grocery, clothing, footwear, electronics
and general merchandise
Reliance Market Wholesale Store Grocery, clothing, footwear, electronics
and general merchandise
Reliance Digital Electronics Specialty Store Computers, mobiles, entertainment,
gaming merchandise
Reliance Digital Mini Specialty Store for mobility Products and Services relating to mobility
Xpress & communication needs through smart phones, tablets,
accessories, peripherals
iStore Exclusive Apple Store Range of Apple products
Reliance Resq Digital Service Center Services (Guidance, Installation,
Maintenance & Repair) for Digital products
Reliance Jewels Jewellery Specialty Store Fine jewellery
Reliance Trends Apparel Specialty Footwear for men, women and kids, sports,
handbags and accessories
Reliance Footprint Footwear Specialty Store Men, ladies, children footwear,
sportswear, handbags and accessories
LYF Connectivity devices and consumer 4G Devices i.e. Smartphones, Wifi, Dongle,
electronics etc., television
HomeShop18 Retail platform Integrated virtual shopping on Internet,
TV / WEB / MOBILE Television and Mobile
Book my Show Online ticket booking platform Online ticket booking for movies, plays,
sporting events and shows

1274 Received: 5 May Revised: 13 May Accepted: 22 May

Index in Cosmos
June 2018 Volume 8 Number 6
UGC APPROVED
 International journal of basic and applied research
www.pragatipublication.com
ISSN 2249-3352 (P) 2278-0505 (E)
Cosmos Impact Factor-5.86

GAPCO Petroleum Petroleum Retail Retail distribution of fuels

Retail
Reliance Petroleum Retail Transportation fuels Retail distribution of fuels

Competitive strength of Reliance Retail Ltd.

• Integrated „offline-online‟ model to differentiate customer experience

• Experience in managing multiple business models of retail, wholesale, licensing, joint
ventures and emerging multi-channel commerce
• Ability to manage complexity, scale, speed and diversity across retail concepts and operating
environments
• Best-in-class infrastructure of IT systems and supply chain enabling scale, speed and
efficiency
• Largest portfolio of international brands making Reliance Retail a partner of choice
START-UPS AND INITIATIVES

• Launched www.ajio.com, the curated fashion and lifestyle e-commerce platform

• India ke Hunger ki Bajao - Reliance Fresh has joined hands with Akshay Patra, an NGO which serves
nutritious meals to over 1.4 million children in more than 10,000 schools across 10 states of India

• During the year, Reliance Retail launched „LYF‟ its own brand of 4G LTE smartphone and 4K
televisions

• For pan India distribution set-up over thousand distributors were on-boarded with another 1,20,000
device outlets signed

• Launch of 2 new renowned international brands - BCBG MAX Azria and Juicy Couture

Gaining Leadership in Retail Business

Reliance Retail continued its steady growth momentum with total revenue increasing by
22.5% to Rs.21612 crore and delivering EBIT of Rs 506 crore. The Company expanded its store
network to 3,245 stores adding 624 stores during the year with more than 1,700 stores operating
under the digital retail concept.

1275 Received: 5 May Revised: 13 May Accepted: 22 May

Index in Cosmos
June 2018 Volume 8 Number 6
UGC APPROVED
 International journal of basic and applied research
www.pragatipublication.com
ISSN 2249-3352 (P) 2278-0505 (E)
Cosmos Impact Factor-5.86

Digital Retail: During the year, it also launched 4th Generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE)
smart phones under the „LYF‟ brand, offering the latest in smart phone technology at affordable rates
for all market segments. LYF phones already accounts for 7.1 percent of India‟s smart phone market
and is the fifth largest smart phone company by shipments. Reliance Retail continues to optimize its
network operations across retail concepts serving the grocery category.

Fashion Retail: Reliance Trends now has 271 stores and continues to consolidate its strength as a
value fashion retailer. During the year it partnered with a globally renowned fashion house to
augment its in-house product design capabilities, thus bridging gaps in merchandise offerings by
bringing global fashion trends to the Indian market. Reliance Market continues to build on its
leadership position as the largest cash and carry player, serving a partner base of over 2 million
registered members.

Reliance Retail 2.0 initiatives: It encompassing Fashion and Lifestyle e-commerce, development of
market place platforms and building of a distribution ecosystem for 4G devices are on track and are
being rolled out in a phased manner.

Reliance Retail Ltd. In Digital Service: A Digital India Dream Project (Jio)

Jio is rolling out a state-of-the-art pan India digital services business. This includes fixed and
wireless broadband connectivity services offering superior voice and data quality on an all-Internet
Protocol (IP) network. In addition, Jio will offer end-to-end solutions encompassing the entire digital
value chain across domains such as education, healthcare, security, communication, financial
services, Government-citizen interfaces and entertainment.

Jio‟s key service objective is to provide anytime, anywhere access to innovative applications
and high-speed internet services, thereby propelling India on to global leadership in the digital
economy. Jio will bring India into the era of “visuality”, where video will replace voice as the
preferred medium of communication. Jio will have one of the most comprehensive and powerful
video networks in the world. Jio‟s customer offering is built on four key strategic dimensions: the
widest coverage of LTE services, superior network quality, transformational data capacity and
affordable services. Jio‟s deployment of LTE, fibre to the home (FTTH) and Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi)
will make high-speed broadband access widely available to customers across India. This type of
broadband network offers high capacity and low latency access to services at an affordable price, a
first for most Indian customers. Jio will enable IP-centric and content-focused services, with the ability
to offer rich, multimedia communication and digital services. Jio is in stabilisation phase of this large

1276 Received: 5 May Revised: 13 May Accepted: 22 May

Index in Cosmos
June 2018 Volume 8 Number 6
UGC APPROVED
 International journal of basic and applied research
www.pragatipublication.com
ISSN 2249-3352 (P) 2278-0505 (E)
Cosmos Impact Factor-5.86

and complex network and is also testing its services end to end for ensuring highest quality of
customer service and experience.

Jio took significant strides this year by real-time testing its service propositions across the
country. Reliance Group employees, channel partners and vendors were amongst the first to test the
true LTE experience as part of the trial launch and test programme. Results have been positive with
high consumption trends across data and voice. Jio now has over 15 lakh trial users. The current
average monthly data and voice consumption per user is in excess of 26GB and over 355 minutes
respectively with rapidly increasing trends. The substantial feedback gained from the users will be
used to create a compelling service for all customers.

Jio has also entered into agreements with various state and local authorities to provide Wi-Fi
services. In addition, Jio is looking to partner with colleges and institutions across India to provide
Wi-Fi facilities.

Conclusion of the study

The present study concludes that Reliance retail Ltd. is among the top 10 retail companies in
India 2016 and successfully able to manage retail business. Its state-of-the-art infrastructure
supporting business systems, supply chain, customer loyalty programs, satisfying customer‟s
diversified need, online-offline product assortment across trade channels, digital service help it to
establish itself as the best retail managed company in India.

Bibliography

1. Sikri, S. and wadhwa, D. 2012, Asia Pacific journal of marketing and management review,
vol.1 issue 1, september 2012, ISSN 2319-2836.
2. Annual Report of Reliance India Ltd 2015-16.
3. Retail 2020: Retrospect, Reinvent, Rewrite by BCG and RAI, 2015.
4. Anuradha, K. (2007, June 2) Impact of malls on small shops and hawkers, economic and
political weekly, pp2063.
5. Kohli, A. (1989) The Politics of Economic liberalisation in India, world development, vol. 17,
no.3 pp 305-28.
6. Kunmar, S. (2005) Brand equity, the economic times, 2005.

1277 Received: 5 May Revised: 13 May Accepted: 22 May

Index in Cosmos
June 2018 Volume 8 Number 6
UGC APPROVED
 International journal of basic and applied research
www.pragatipublication.com
ISSN 2249-3352 (P) 2278-0505 (E)
Cosmos Impact Factor-5.86

7. Laxmi Prabha.G. (2007), “The prospects and problems of Indian Retailing”, Indian Journal of
Marketing,Vol. XXXVII, No.10.
8. Amatual Baseer (2007), “Emerging Trends in India”, Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol. XXXVII,
No.11.
9. Hariharan.G. (2008), “Profile and perception of retail consumers”, Indian Journal of
Marketing, Vol.XXXVIII, No.2.
10. Indian Retail The next growth story, retrieved from www.kpmg.com
11. Retail Industry in India, retrieved from www.ibef.org on October 20, 2016.
12. Kanwaljeet, 2015, “organised retailing in India : opportunities and challenges”, IRACST –
International Journal of Commerce, Business and Management (IJCBM), ISSN: 2319–2828 Vol.
4, No.2, April.
13. Akhter Shahid, EqubalIftekhar, 2012, “organized retailing in India – challenges and
opportunities”, International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Vol.2 Issue 1, January 2012,
ISSN 2231 5780.
14. Deloitte‐ Indian Retail Market Opening more Doors.
15. National Skill Development Corporation – “Human Resource and Skill Requirement in the
Organised Retail Sector (2022) – A Report.

*Corresponding author may be contacted at poonam_mcs@yahoo.co.in, 9463421921.

*Dr. Poonam Mahajan is working as Assistant Professor at Guru Nanak Dev University College, Narot
Jaimal Singh (Pathankot) Punjab. She has 11 research papers published in national and international
referred journals to her credit. She has book published by Lambert publishing House, Germany. She
presented research papers in various national and international conferences and attended FDPs,
workshops etc. She is also a member of Indian Commerce Association.

1278 Received: 5 May Revised: 13 May Accepted: 22 May

Index in Cosmos
June 2018 Volume 8 Number 6
UGC APPROVED