Reliance invests Rs 30k cr in retail in FY22; to accelerate store expansion, e-commerce

Reliance Industries invested Rs 30,000 crore (around USD 3.76 billion) in its retail business and added 2,500 stores, taking the total storecount to 15,196 in FY22.

Besides, Reliance Retail added 11.1 million square feet of warehousing space during the year, nearly doubling the warehousing space to 22.7 million square feet, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said in the annual report for FY22.

In FY22, Reliance Retail added over 1.50 lakh jobs, taking its total headcount to 3.61 lakh.

During the fiscal year, Reliance Retail further strengthened its sourcing ecosystem, working closely with producers, MSMEs, service providers, and local and international brand companies, it added.

"Reliance Retail has built capabilities through organic growth, acquisitions and strategic partnerships with investments near Rs 30,000 crore in FY 2021-22. Reliance Retail added over 2,500 new stores and 11.1 million sq ft of warehousing space during the year," said RIL.

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In FY22, on an average, Reliance Retail added seven stores per day.

Moreover, its merchant partnerships and digital commerce witnessed a substantial increase and contributed nearly 17 per cent of its revenues compared to 10 per cent in the preceding year, it said.

Over its strategic priorities and way forward, Reliance Retail said it will "accelerate new store expansion" and continued emphasis on growing the digital commerce business.

Reliance Retail, which had in FY22 acquired a majority stake in Just Dial, partnered with several leading Indian and global coutures and acquired franchise right, will "develop new brands, integrate acquisitions, launch and scale up new businesses".

It will also work to strengthen supply chain infrastructure and product and design ecosystems to support business growth, the report said.

In FY22, Reliance Retail witnessed growth from its new commerce, where merchant partners grew 3x year-on-year while digital commerce orders grew 2.5x year-on-year. Its registered customer base now stands at 193 million, a growth of 24 per cent Y-o-Y.

With the launch of JioMart, Reliance Retail has established itself as the leading player in hyperlocal delivery and quick commerce, the report said.

Moreover, Reliance Retail’s investment in grocery delivery firm Milkbasket and quick commerce player Dunzo will "further strengthen its capabilities in serving customers," the annual report added.

Reliance Retail has integrated Milkbasket with JioMart and had 2x growth in daily subscription orders since the acquisition, it said.

During the year, Reliance Retail launched new commerce services for consumer electronics and pharma merchants.

"It has significantly scaled up its merchant partnerships across Grocery and Fashion & Lifestyle consumption baskets. The platforms have witnessed robust growth in matrices such as order values and frequency of orders, reflecting the trust and growing bond with the merchant partners," it added.

For financial year ended March 31, 2022, Reliance retail almost become a Rs 2 lakh crore company as the value of sales and services in the fiscal was at Rs 1,99,749 crore.

"Reliance Retail continues to rapidly grow in scale on the back of new store expansion and favourable product mix resulting in high operating leverage," it said.

In FY22, Reliance also built on its portfolio of brands, offering a superior value proposition and differentiated products to customers.

According to the company, the broad-based growth in the retail sector is being led by India’s small towns and Reliance Retail's over two-thirds of its network of stores in tier II and below towns.

"This provides it a first mover advantage across many small towns, leading to customer stickiness," it added.