IndiaRetailBiz

Having already rolled out five stores each of ’iStores’ and Reliance ‘Digital’ stores in India, Reliance Retail, the retail arm of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Group, is accelerating the pace of their opening in India.

Currently, Reliance operates iStores at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Jaipur and Ludhiana, and Reliance Digital stores at Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad.

Reliance’s ‘iStore,’ set up in collaboration with Apple Inc of the US, is a premium reseller of iconic Apple products in India. These products, among others, include the entire range of iMacs, MacBooks, iPods and over 500 Mac accessories and peripherals. Apple will also soon launch its iPhones that have taken the mobile world by storm. iStores are also equipped to provide specific training modules for different Mac applications using regular training modules.

A typical iStore is spread over 1,000-1,500 sq ft of area. The biggest iStore in India occupying 2,875 sq ft of area is located at Hyderabad.

Reliance Digital stores on the other hand offer over 4,000 consumer and professional electronic/IT products, appliances, other durables and accessories of over 150 globally known brands. Customers at these outlets can also access dedicated after sales service and troubleshooting of highest quality through an in-house service arm called ResQ.

A typical Digital store occupies 20,000 to 30,000 sq ft of space.

The company, according to Ajay Baijal, Chief Executive Officer, Reliance Digital, will roll out 50 to 60 iStores in the coming 15 to 18 months. It will also open 150 Reliance Digital stores in the next 48 months. Baijal was talking to newspersons on the occasion of opening of iStore in Ludhiana, yesterday.

“On an average, we are expecting Rs 7 crore from i store format and Rs 70 crore per annum from Reliance Digital format,” added Baijal.

Reliance Retail, which began its operations in November 2006, is among the country’s fastest growing retailers operating over 700 stores across 13 states occupying over 3.5 million Sq ft of retail space.