Reliance Trends to enter more Tier III, IV cities with new stores

Reliance Trends is aiming to have 2,500 stores across India over the next five years. As of now, there are 557 stores. The expansion plan will allow Reliance Trends, which sells accessories as well as clothing, to rapidly grow its private labels. Integrating private labels with its e-commerce venture, and penetrating deeper into Tier III and IV cities, is the next level of growth for Reliance Trends. The new ecommerce venture aims at connecting small and mid-sized merchants with his retail network and warehouses, helping them better manage inventory as well as boost sales of Reliance’s private labels.

Reliance Trends’ aggressive expansion will see products such as private labels available across multi-brand outlets and smaller format stores as well. Almost 80 per cent of Reliance Trends’ revenue comes from private labels. A team of designers work across seven centers in India and one in the UK to design items such as jeans, trousers, shirts and T-shirts.

Retailers tend to make better margins out of their own brands than third-party brands because they can keep a much sharper eye on costs of production and associated marketing.