1) Reliance Retail deals with after-sales service, maintenance, demonstrations, installation, and extended warranties under their brand Reliance ResQ. They also launched a website this year to provide store details. 2) They retail major brands like Sony, Samsung, LG, and others across categories like LCDs, laptops, phones, cameras, and ACs, which are fast selling products. 3) They have their own private labels mainly for accessories and smaller products, but also allow customers to choose between private labels and other brands.

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Under our brand Reliance ResQ, we
deal with issues of after-sales service,
maintenance, demonstrations, instal-
lation, and extended warranties. Our
company has also launched our web-
site www.reliancedigital.in, this year
to provide details about the stores.
On brands retailed
We deal in all of the major brands
available in the market like Sony,
Samsung, LG, Philips, Panasonic,
Nokia, Whirlpool, Godrej, Onida, Mo-
torola, HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Apple.
On fast selling products
The fast selling goods this year have
been LCDs, laptops, mobile phones
(especially business phones), digital
cameras, and ACs. We call them the
Star Categories, and they are wit-
nessing growth at a very fast pace.
Details on private labels
We have a number of private labels
of our own. However, the customer
is given a fair chance to choose be-
tween our private label and the
brands available at our store. Our
own label caters mostly to the acces-
sories section, and a number of other
smaller products.
On issues that need to be
addressed
There are a number of issues which
need to be addressed in the modern
retail sector. The access and avail-
ability of good quality retail real
estate at the right price is required.
The management of logistics, infra-
structure, and delivery are all also
very important.
The quality of mall management,
positioning, and mall marketing
have room for improvement.
A lot of retailers need to have train-
ing of retail associates, because
these are the people who constantly
interact with the customers. Their
training should not only be in terms
of soft skills and retail skills, but
Reliance Retail Ltd.
also in terms of knowledge about
the digital products and updated
technology. They should be one step
ahead of the customers.
On prospects for 2011
The growth rate for this trade is
extremely high. There is a huge la-
tent market that needs to be tapped
through geographic expansion into
new cities. The geographic penetra-
tion will increase, especially in metro
and tier 2 cities. Tier 2 cities will
have areas of major growth because
of the novelty factor of modern retail
stores, and the new found excitement
of previously unfamiliar customers.
In the case of products, LCDs will
take the place of normal TVs and the
penetration of ACs will be extremely
high. The mobile segment will witness
rapid growth with people upgrading
their phones every few months.
Also, online and digital retailing will
become very popular. People will go
online to buy products; and blogs
and social networking sites will also
become huge influencing factors for
the Indian market scene. We at Reli-
ance Digital also have launched our
website www.Reliancedigital.in.
Peshwa Acharya
VP & Head - Marketing & Consumer
Experience
O
n sales trends in 2010
We have witnessed a healthy
double digit growth this year,
and there also has been a rapid in-
crease in the number of stores across
the nation.
Talking about the market in general,
customers are becoming increasingly
digital savvy. Information is readily
available, and a customer now con-
ducts a pre-search before actually
buying a product. This is also fuelled
by an increasing presence of a large
number of global and international
brands in India.
In the case of mobile phones, the cus-
tomers are quite savvy, and upgrade
or change products at a faster rate.
There are continuous launches of
new models in the country, often in
synchronization with international
markets. There is also an inclination
toward high-end phones and smart
phones in the market.
Accessorizing is also capturing the
interest of the customers, especially
in the case of the IT segment. For
example, people not only buy lap-
tops, but they also buy accessories
like hard drives, pen drives, wireless
routers, printers, and scanners.
The customer experience, ambience,
and the ability to experience a large
merchandise range are important to
purchase decision making; and this
is fuelling the growth of large format
stores like Reliance Digital in the
future.
On price trends
In the case of digital products, the
price trend is usually on the down-
side. However, for appliances, prices
tend to rise when there is fluctuation
in the prices of material costs.
On products retailed
Reliance Digital as a brand, deals in
five SBUs. These include consumer
electronics, home appliances, infor-
mation technology, telecom, and Re-
liance ResQ.
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