NEW DELHI: Scaling its retail business further, Reliance Retail Venture Limited (RRVL) on Thursday said it would roll out 7-Eleven convenience stores in India as part of its master franchise agreement with the US chain.
The first 7-Eleven store in India is set to open on October 9, in Andheri East, Mumbai, which will be followed by “a rapid rollout in key neighbourhoods and commercial areas, across the Greater Mumbai cluster to start with”, the company said.
The announcement comes after the termination of the deal between Future Retail and 7-Eleven to open small-format shops. Stores could not open as Future failed to pay franchise fees. Reliance Retail, which was supposed to buy out Future Retail for Rs 24,000 crore, has deferred the completion of the deal by six months after the latter got embroiled in a legal tussle with Amazon.
The tie-up with 7-Eleven gives Reliance Retail, which has been listed among the fastest-growing retailers in the world in Deloitte’s Global Powers of Retailing 2021 index, an even greater dominance over the country’s retail market.
According to the annual report of RIL, Reliance Retail opened 1,456 new stores (consumer electronics, fashion and lifestyle and grocery segments) in 2020-21, taking the total store count to 12,711 with operated area spanning over 33.8 million sq. ft.
It is present in more than 7,000 cities and towns across India. Compare this to Future Retail, which has pan India presence with 1,308 stores in 397 cities as of March 31 and total retail space of around 15.69 mn sq. ft. across formats.
About the number of stores that the company plans to roll out by the end of FY22, 7-Eleven said it depends on the real-estate availability.
The deal with 7-Eleven is the latest in Reliance Group’s efforts to rapidly expand its retail and e-commerce businesses in order to compete with Amazon, Walmart, and Flipkart in India’s nearly trillion-dollar retail market, says Kshitij Purohit, Lead Commodities and Currency, CapitalVia Global Research Limited.
Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, reported a consolidated turnover of Rs 1.57 lakh crore and net profit of Rs 5,481 crore for the year ended 31 March, 2021.
The Q1 FY22 financial results update by the company also mentions the expansion thrust has continued as the company opened 123 new stores in the quarter.
Opening a new chain
The first 7-Eleven store in India is set to open on October 9, in Andheri East, Mumbai
Opening of new stores would depend on the real estate availability, says 7-Eleven
Reliance plans a rapid rollout in key commercial areas across the Greater Mumbai cluster to start with