Is it the time for Reliance Retail to regroup?

People in India were very much excited about Reliance Infocomm Ltd. launching its mobile in the market.The same excitement was there when Mukesh Ambani led "Reliance Retail " announced the requirement of land for their retail outlets.

Just in a single day,record no of hits were seen on their website.May be I thought,US retail giant Wal-Mart may get a stiff competition from our Desi Reliance Retail.

Relaince Retail shop opens in Hyderabad:
Few days back(on the 4th November,2006),Reliance Retail opened its first retail outlet in Hyderabad and the response there was fascinating.When I saw the interview of the people(on CNBC TV-18) who purchased from Reliance retail,there was a big sense of satisfaction on their faces.

Reliance Strategy:

• The price of the commodities and other goods less than the other competitors like Kishore Biyani led Future Group,Food World,other kirana stores.For example. There is a difference of 2 rupees on one Kg. of Rice between Reliance Retail and Food World.
• The ambience out there is very good.
• Plus,last but not the least and the most important point is Reliance Retail knows its customers well.They offer Reliance Retail membership cards which would give more benifits to the customers.This is a missing feature in all its competitors.

A sudden rainfall (for Reliance Retail) in the month of November:

The arrival of Reliance Retail was causing a big concern to Kishore Biyani , when he was seen on the "India Retail Forum".

But all good things come to an end or should I say "The way to sucess is not easy and you cannot take a leap to reach the top".Now the question is "Suddenly after this fascinating start of Realince Retail,what happened"?

The CEO of Reliance Retail Rajeev Karwal(the man who made Electorlux Kelvinator Ltd,sometimes also called as King of consumer durables) is moving out of Reliance Retail after a small stint of 10 months with Reliance Retail(Source:Economic Times Network,09/11/2006).
He was the one of the first high profile persons roped in by Reliance and Ajay Baijal would be the CEO of the Retail arm of Reliance.

This came as a shock to the industry insiders and the reason for his quick exit is not known(Source:Economic Times Network,09/11/2006).But definitely,this is the time for Reliance Retail to regroup its strategies as well its team since , "It takes time to create good brand value but it does not take more time to loose Brand value!!!"


-Himanshu J Sheth
(09/11/2006,6:20 PM)