According to Reliance Retail’s fashion & lifestyle business CEO Akhilesh Prasad, the season has made up for the sluggish business of the past months
Bengaluru: Reliance Retail is optimistic about its 2024 festive season performance, with sales already surpassing projections, said Akhilesh Prasad, chief executive officer of the fashion and lifestyle arm of India’s largest retail company.
“Festive season has alleviated much of the dullness experienced in the first half of the year. We anticipate strong growth in the market,” Prasad told IndiaRetailing. “Sales are currently exceeding our expectations, and we don’t foresee any issues in the market,” he added.
Reliance Retail Ltd (RRL), the retail arm of Reliance Industries Ltd., owns and operates fashion and lifestyle brands including Reliance Trends, Avantra by Trends, Azorte, Yousta, Fashion Factory, and Centro. The company also has a portfolio of over 50 international brands such as Armani, Burberry, Diesel, Gas, Marks & Spencer, Superdry, Brooks Brothers and Steve Madden.
Currently, Reliance Retail operates an integrated omni-channel network of over 18,918 stores and digital commerce platforms with a registered customer base of over 316 million.
“Our goal is to stay increasingly relevant to all our customers. India has a wide range of economic segments—from the low end to the medium, mid-premium bridge-to-luxury and luxury sectors. As a group, we are actively engaged in each of these segments, which allows us to reach the largest possible customer base in India than any other operator,” Prasad said.
Of the several fashion & Lifestyle formats the company operates, it is aggressively focusing on growing its youth fashion retail format Yousta’s, which it launched in August 2023 with the opening of its first store in Hyderabad’s Sarath City Mall. Yousta stores feature modern, tech-enabled layouts with self-checkout options and charging stations. The brand offers high-fashion items at affordable prices, with all products priced below Rs 999 and most under Rs 499.
Yousta recently opened a new 7,400 sq. ft. store in Koramangala, Bengaluru.
Yousta is currently present through over 35 stores in 27 cities across nine states, including Kerala, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Haryana. In addition to its physical presence, the Yousta range is available online through Ajio and JioMart, covering 98% of pin codes nationwide.
The brand also provides new looks in its ‘Starring Now’ collection every week, where the latest fashion is offered as a complete outfit with matching accessories.
There is intense competition among Indian corporate giants, such as Tata Group (Zudio), Landmark Group (Max), and Shoppers Stop (Intune), to penetrate the expansive value fashion market in India. This sector is primarily dominated by the unorganised segment, along with a few key players like V-Mart, V2 Retail, and CityKart, among others.
“Many businesses are attempting to sell at low price points, but few have the backend ecosystem needed to deliver the best in fashion,” said Prasad. “We excel in this area, backed by our global network that features offices in London and a dedicated team in Barcelona. Our global sourcing capabilities and a network of 500 vendors in India and our fabric mills allow us to consistently innovate with fabrics.”
Speaking about expansion plans for Yousta, Prasad stated, “We are not making any guesses on the number of stores. We will open as many as possible, whether that is dozens or hundreds. There are no limits—our goal is simply to open as many as we can.”
