Reliance to introduce own brand of consumer electronics

New Delhi: Reliance Industries'' retail arm, Reliance Retail, will enter the consumer durables market, valued at $5 - $6 billion, with the launch its own label of consumer durables to be sold through its Reliance Digital Stores, which will be a one-stop-shop for all electronics goods.

Speaking at the inauguration of the first Reliance Digital electronic store in the national capital region today, Ajay Baijal, president and CEO, consumer durables, IT and telecom, Reliance Retail Ltd, said, "Reliance will come out with its private label of consumer durables products... That is definitely in the strategy after we open four - five stores."

However, did not specify whether the private label would be manufactured or sourced.

Reliance Digital Store, has been launched five months after the company first introduced its fresh food format outlets, Reliance Fresh, that stock its own label of groceries undern the brand, Reliance Staple.

Reliance Retail says that it would invest over Rs1,000 crore over the next three or four years to set up 150 such stores, which would sell everything from TV sets, home theatre, refrigerator, cooking range, dishwasher to computers and mobile phones from across brands.

Baijal told reporters that these stores, typically spread over 15,000-30,000sq-ft, would have a wide assortment of products to cater to the tastes and requirement of customers.

The domestic consumer electronics market is growing by 10 per cent annually and is split between imported South Korean brands such LG and Samsung and Japan`s Sony on the one hand and Indian market leaders like Videocon and BPL.

Baijal said each store would be set up at an investment of Rs4 to Rs7 crore and also provide after-sales services.

Reliance Retail mentor Kamal Nanawati, said that if any customer finds a cheaper product in the market within 30 days of the purchase, Reliance "would not hesitate to match that offer".

"We would be offering a host of value-added services like software downloads for our IT customers and airtime and accessories for mobile users," Baijal said.

When fully rolled out, the stores would be spread across 70 cities and all of them would offer ''RelianceresQ'' -- pre-sales and post-sales support services.

Reliance Digital will also be offering customers RelianceOne, a common membership and loyalty programme across all its formats, which means users would be able to redeem points earned on purchases.

Other formats of Reliance Retail like supermarkets and hypermarkets are due for launch in the April-June quarter. Reliance Industries had last year announced an investment of Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion) for the retail business, which it hopes would help the company earn over Rs 90,000 crore (Rs 900 billion) revenues in the next five years.

Industry estimates suggest India''s retail market is worth $320 billion, of which organised retail accounts for $7.5 billion and expected to grow to $21.5 billion by 2010.