Reliance Industries is accelerating the integration of physical stores and e-commerce through a new search and discovery platform, currently in pilot phase within its retail division. The goal is to strengthen the convergence between the in-store and online experience, offering customers personalized tools for more seamless product discovery and purchase. Its subsidiary, Reliance Retail, India's largest retailer, operates 19.340 stores nationwide and serves over 349 million customers, with a portfolio ranging from electronics to apparel to groceries.
The new platform has been launched on a trial basis in the fashion Trends and Yousta formats, with an extension planned for later this year to the Smart Bazaar grocery chain. The system allows customers to scan a QR code in-store and access a digital environment that suggests products based on their individual preferences, facilitating research, comparison, and discovery.
According to Damodar Mall, CEO of Grocery Retail at Reliance Retail, the speed of transformation of the sector in India requires a continuous evolution of distribution models, especially in an increasingly crowded competitive environment.
Indian retail is under pressure from the growth of online marketplaces like Amazon India and Flipkart, as well as the expansion of quick commerce, led by players like Instamart, Blinkit, and Zepto, which are rapidly eroding market share thanks to ultra-fast deliveries. In response, Reliance has also strengthened its digital grocery channel with JioMart, which will expand to include 10-minute delivery in 2025, thus entering the quick commerce space.
On the financial front, however, increasing competition, holiday-related promotional policies, investments in hyperlocal delivery, and the one-off impact of India's new labor code impacted core retail margins, which fell to 8% in the third quarter from 8,6% the previous year. Despite this, the Indian consumer market continues to expand, offering scope for share reallocations without curtailing overall sector growth.
The search-and-discovery platform is therefore part of a broader omnichannel strategy, aimed at leveraging the widespread presence of the physical network and, at the same time, integrating data, personalization, and digital services into an increasingly hybrid and competitive retail ecosystem.
