Reliance Retail is at it again. After storming the food-cum-grocery retail market, the Mukesh Ambani-owned retailing major is all set to create ripples in the consumer electronics retailing as well. It unveiled its pilot consumer electronics concept mega store in Ghaziabad in April this year. The latest foray is a part of the Group's plan to tap the country's $5.6 bn consumer durables market, while complementing its existing retail format. The move also gains significance in the sense that this marks another initiative from the corporate world to organize consumer durables retailing in the country which has been dominated by unorganized players right from the beginning. Videocon-owned `Next', is probably India's first corporate-owned consumer durables retail chain spread across the country. Given Reliance Group's formidable reputation and penchant for size, its latest move is sure to galvanize the segment.
Indian Retail landscape has undergone a radical face-lift in recent times and is now probably one of the most attractive retail destinations in the world. The phenomenal growth recorded by the industry in the last five years vouch for that. And going by the government's projections, organized retail, which is dubbed as the next big thing after IT in India, is expected to grow to over Rs. 200,000 cr ($45 bn) by the year 2010, creating 2.5 million jobs in various retail operations and over 10 million additional workforce in retail support activities including contract production and processing, supply chain and logistics, retail real estate development and management, etc. Currently, the organized sector accounts for Rs. 55,000 cr or $12.4 bn (in calendar year 2006), accounting for 4.6% of the total market size of Rs.1200,000 cr ($270 bn), according to the Indian Retail Report, 2007. However, the report projects that the trend will gather further momentum as it expects organized retailing to grow at the rate of about 37% in 2007 and 42% in 2008. |
