Reliance Industries ventures into online high fashion with AJIO

Reliance Industries has launched AJIO, an e-commerce fashion retail venture. It targets India’s online high spenders with high margins and curated fashion. The portal, which has been named after its telecom unit Reliance Jio and the forthcoming digital wallet Jio Money, has already been tested on the company’s employees last three months.

The new venture will focus on designer wear and high fashion global brands. The idea is to stand apart in the cluttered online world of fashion retailers. The company will sell nearly 200 brands that they have partnered with including Cross Jeans from Turkey, Australia’s Holster and MDS of Singapore. The company claims that 60 per cent of its merchandise will be unique and its model will be inventory-based marketplace.

Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries is a diverse group with interests in telecom, media and petroleum and is one of India’s largest retailers, operating department chains such as Reliance Trends and Reliance Brands.

India’s online retail sector, as per Euromonitor International, is presently Rs 20,000 crores and is expected to reach more than Rs 70,000 crores by 2020.