Reliance Digital - Real Competition to Flipkart/Amazon

Reliance Digital And Its Hybrid Online/Offline Strategy

When Reliance Digital launched in 2007, most people saw it as a generic electronics offering from one of India’s largest conglomerates, Reliance Industries. Cutting to 2020, Reliance Digital is India’s biggest electronics goods retailer. It has leveraged the techno-retail innovations to develop a hybrid online/offline strategy that covers all categories of consumers and maximizes sales and reach.

In the early days of the entry of e-commerce giants, the electronics goods segment was thought to be impossible for online shopping. Most people preferred visiting an offline store, checking the product’s features, working condition, touch and feel, bargaining discounts and getting the purchase in their hands straight away.

Therefore, Reliance Digital initially focused on offline service delivery, quickly establishing itself in important locations countrywide- presently, it has 8000+ stores. It has made good progress in expanding the range of electronics items, thus overtaking rivals like Croma in the offline arm of the business strategy.

Reliance Digital sells everything from home appliances to smartphones with over 200 top national and international brands available, including the in-house brand called LYF. Just as with Jio (the game-changing data service from Reliance), Reliance facilitates all customers to buy consumer durables regardless of their economic status. Jio stores are now associated with Reliance Digital, making a strong brand connect in people’s minds.

Different Strategy

The two modes of Online-to-offline commerce offered by Reliance Digital that are complementary and not competitive in terms of channelizing sales through multiple funnels.

A. People can browse products online, compare specs in one go, use exclusive discounts and even pay online or at the store. They can pick up the item from an offline store without waiting.

B. People who prefer to shop offline, touching, feeling and getting a trial can then get online payment with discounts or EMIs while picking up the product straight away.

These options target consumers who may live far away from service coverage locations. It also captures customers who distrust placing orders online. Customers can quickly buy products online and pick up from a nearby store, eliminating any waiting time as they can control when they receive their purchase. 10% of Jio Store’s revenues have come from catalogue sales in 2019-20.

There is the third mode of pure online shopping, using the EMI plans or offers and home delivery from a nearby Reliance Digital Store. If a particular model or color is out-of-stock, this offline/online business model allows super-fast delivery with the minimum waiting time.

Another game-changing advantage is the potential of having service centers attached to the Reliance Digital offline stores (ResQ). People can drop off items needing servicing or even return items easily while being able to track the status online.