India’s leading company Reliance Retail is planning to launch a value apparel format. The company is in talks to lease 6,000-9,000 sq. ft. space across malls and high street for the new brand.
This step is considered to compete directly with Tata’s Zudio, Landmark group-owned Max and Shoppers Stop’s new mass-priced brand InTune.
Though Reliance Retail has not confirmed any development in this regard.
Leading business daily The Economic Times quoted a source saying that while Tata has Westside and Zudio in the mass and low-priced segment, Reliance has Trends and recently launched premium fashion and lifestyle store AZORTE, to compete directly with fast fashion brands Zara and H&M in India. It had no brand category to compete with the likes of Zudio and Max and hence the new brand, which will sell clothing within Rs.1,000 range, will help it to expand its offering.
It is being said that in the next few months, there can be multiple stores coming up in this segment as big brands want to tap this segment. After consumption has increased in metro cities as well as in Tier-2 cities, retailers are eyeing growth in 2023.
Industry believes that India’s consumption structure has been skewed in the past with only a small base of rich consumers accounting for a large chunk of the overall market.
However, as the economy is broadening across many more cities and the impact is reaching further down the income ladder, the opportunity for value-formats and value-brands is expanding.