Reliance Retail launched its pilot consumer electronics mega store, Reliance Digital, at Shipra Mall in Indrapuram, Ghaziabad. This is the second format of stores from the company, introduced within six months of its foray into organised retail. The pilot Reliance Fresh store was opened on November 3, 2006, in Hyderabad.
Reliance Digital, positioned as “cutting-edge technology retail providing consumers a one-stop solution to all their technology needs,” offers over 4,000 products and some 150 brands in refrigerators, kitchen appliances, televisions, computers, cell phones and various digital lifestyle items. The store at Shipra Mall covers an area of over 15,000 square feet. Ajay Baijal, head of Reliance Digital, informed that the stores will span 15,000-3,000 square feet – with the larger size to be preferred for standalone stores. The smaller size will be retained as an option for locations within malls.
Addressing a press conference on the occasion of the launch, Baijal said that plans include opening 150 Reliance Digital stores across 70 cities in the next 3-4 years. The presently Rs 16,168-crore consumer electronics segment is expected to touch Rs 28,681 crore in 2010; and within the same period, home appliances are estimated to move from Rs 10,148 crore to Rs 14,620 crore.
