Reliance Retail to pilot search-discovery platform in multi-channel push | Company News
India’s Reliance Industries retail unit is piloting a search and discovery platform to more closely integrate in-store and online shopping experiences, a senior executive said on Monday.
Reliance Retail is the country’s largest retailer, operating 19,340 stores across the country and selling everything from electronics and apparel to groceries to more than 349 million customers.
Damodar Mall, CEO of Grocery Retail at Reliance Retail, said the company has been trialling the platform in clothing stores such as Trends and Yousta and plans to implement it in retail chain Smart Bazaar later this year.
Customers can scan a QR code in stores to use the platform, helping them discover and search for products that suit their preferences, Mall said on the sidelines of the Retail Leadership Summit in Mumbai.
It did not disclose an investment amount or other operational details for the new platform.
India’s retail industry faces intensifying competition from online shopping platforms such as Amazon’s India unit and Walmart-backed Flipkart, while fast-paced commerce firms such as Swiggy’s Instamart, Eternal’s Blinkit and Zepto are rapidly eating into market share.
Reliance’s online grocery delivery service JioMart has expanded to compete in the 10-minute delivery segment in 2025.
Festival discounts, investments in local deliveries and the one-off impact of India’s new labor law reduced core margins in the retail business to 8 percent in the third quarter from 8.6 percent a year earlier.
Mall said the pace of change in India’s retail sector remains intense, but this is occurring against the backdrop of a still-expanding consumption market that provides room for changes in market share without constraining overall growth.
