Reliance Industries gets set to launch its fashion portal
The portal will have the largest collection of private labels for women with 60% exclusive product range, the company claims
Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is preparing for a preview of its fashion e-commerce venture, which it claims will offer the largest collection of private labels for women.
Some 60% of the merchandise it sells, including national and international brands and Indie (ethnic fusion) wear, will be exclusively available on the portal, RIL said in its earnings presentation on Tuesday. The products will be aimed at 18-34-year olds, the presentation said.
RIL did not share the date of launch of the venture, which comes at a time when shoppers are flocking to e-commerce companies like Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal to take advantage of the attractive discounts they offer on fashion merchandise.
Between 2012 and 2014, India’s e-tail gross merchandise value (GMV), or value of goods sold, increased 3.5 times to $4 billion.
“By 2020, we expect online buyers to increase five-fold, annual user spends to double, and e-tail GMV to grow to $47 billion," said securities house India Infoline in a September report.
In October, the Aditya Birla Group launched abof.com, an online one-stop fashion portal for apparel, footwear and accessories for men and women.
Later this year, the $108-billion Tata Group will launch its own e-commerce venture.
On Tuesday, Gaurav Jain, strategy head, Reliance Retail, said the company was planning to roll out three e-commerce platforms and that a fashion portal may go online later in 2016.
So far the entry of abof.com has not caused much of a stir in the e-commerce world. As more players enter the space, analysts expect the incumbents as well as the new entrants to step up their advertising spending and discounting to attract consumers.
Discounting in calendar year 2014 accounted for some 25% of the overall GMV for e-tailers, according to the India Infoline report.
“New entrants will have to compete with the big domestic companies.The investment in the sector will increase as existing companies and new ones spend on attracting consumers," said Anil Talreja, partner, Deloitte Haskins and Sells Llp, a consulting firm.
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