Reliance Retail to enter FMCG space this year: Isha Ambani

Reliance Industries Ltd's retail arm Reliance Retail will enter the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) space this year, Isha Ambani, the director of Reliance Retail, says during the company's 45th annual general meeting (AGM) (post-IPO) today.

She adds that by opening a new FMCG business, the company wants to develop and deliver top quality and highly affordable products to solve customers' requirements.

RIL's entry into the FMCG space could give a huge competition to the industry leaders like Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India, Britannia Industries, and ITC.

Speaking about the company's achievement in the last one year, Isha Ambani says Reliance Retail served over 200 million registered customers, equivalent to the collective population of the U.K., France and Italy, at Reliance Retail’s physical stores and digital platforms.

"Our digital commerce platforms continued their growth with nearly six lakh orders being delivered every day, an increase of 2.5 times over last year," she says.

As per Isha Ambani, Reliance Retail opened over 2,500 stores in the year to take its store count to over 15,000 and generated 1.5 lakh jobs. "We doubled warehousing space to 670 mn cu-ft. We generated employment for more than 1,50,000, taking the employee base to 360,000."

She says since its launch two years ago, Reliance Retail's New Commerce initiative has grown its merchant partner base to 20 lakh. "We add about 1,50,000 partners a month, and are on course to reach 1 crore merchants in 5 years."

Apart from announcing the WhatsApp-JioMart partnership, Reliance Retail launched several new products during the year across categories like staples, home, personal care and general merchandise, says Ambani.

She says the company's digital commerce platforms -- reliancedigital.in and JioMart -- provide a comprehensive omnichannel network, enabling it to deliver 93% online orders from stores within 6 hours.

Reliance Retail's JioMart Digital (JMD) enables small merchants to sell the entire product portfolio of Reliance Retail on an assisted selling model, helping them deliver a better customer experience.

"AJIO Business, our new commerce initiative gives merchant partners across 3,500 towns access to 8,000 brands and a wide portfolio of our own brands. Last year, we sold over 43 cr garments, enough to clothe the population of the U.S. & Canada," says Isha Ambani.

RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani also said that Reliance Retail wants to serve millions of customers daily with unlimited choice, outstanding value proposition, superior quality, and unmatched experience through the company's physical stores or digital and Omni-commerce platforms.

"We will establish a strong technology-enabled supply chain, capable of moving products across geographies in India in the most efficient manner. Eliminating inefficiencies and waste will bring huge gains to customers, and to the national economy," he adds.