Reliance Retail witnessed a 10.5% hike in revenues during the second quarter of 2021-22 with the sales valued at INR45.4bn (USD0.6bn) compared to INR41.1bn (USD0.5bn) a year ago. The retailer’s business diversification strategy along with continuous advancements in existing operations will help it to scale new highs in 2022, forecasts GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Reliance Retail completed the successful acquisition of several brands and companies to strengthen its foothold in potential growth markets. To highlight, in October 2021, Reliance Retail acquired a 96.5% stake in Aaidea Solutions Private Limited (Milkbasket). Similarly, the retailer acquired a 40% stake in Manish Malhotra’s MM Styles Pvt Ltd.u

Ankita Roy, Retail Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is still impacting the consumers’ purchasing behavior, driving a trend towards ‘on-demand’ and subscription-based grocery delivery services. The acquisition of Milkbasket will help Reliance Retail to meet the consumers’ preferences for convenience. The company is undertaking acquisition strategies to strengthen its e-commerce business.

“Several companies that have been recently added to the retailer’s portfolio include pharmacy startup Netmeds, online furniture startup Urban Ladder, Zivame among others. With these, the company will be placed in direct competition with online giants such as Amazon, Flipkart and much pronounced TATA’s upcoming super app.”

India’s retail sector is highly unorganized with the modern retail sector comprising nearly 15-20% of the entire retail Industry. The retailer aims to step into the traditional retail formats and partner with smaller stores or merchants to make inroads into the potential tier 2 and tier 3 cities and reach new audiences.

Roy concludes: “With its prime focus on a business diversification strategy, Reliance Retail aims to integrate its products and services as a routine in consumers’ lifestyle. India’s middle-class population accounts for nearly 30% of the overall Indian population, and if the company can leverage even a small portion of their wallet sizes, it will reap huge benefits. This explains the company’s focus on business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce and acquisition of startups and popular brands along with building a digital wholesale marketplace like Alibaba.”