Reliance Retail pays the price for size

Jun 19, 2025

In this discussion, Seetharaman G, deputy editor at The Ken, dives into the challenges faced by Reliance Retail, India's largest retailer. The conversation highlights how the company's massive expansion may be creating more problems than solutions. Seetharaman contrasts Reliance's approach with competitors and examines its strategies in e-commerce and acquisitions. He reflects on the impact of leadership dynamics within the Ambani family and the evolving consumer landscape, offering insights into the complexities of navigating such a vast empire.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Reliance Retail's Massive Scale

Reliance Retail dominates India with over 19,300 stores across multiple categories.
It operates from grocery to luxury fashion and holds exclusive franchises like 7-Eleven and Pret a Manger.

INSIGHT

Why Walmart's Model Fails in India

The Walmart model of large hypermarkets won't work in India due to space and shopping habits.
Indian consumers prefer specialized stores and neighborhood convenience over one-stop shopping at huge stores.

INSIGHT

Size Over Profitability Focus

Reliance Retail aims for hyperscale and dominance, often preferring size over operational inefficiencies.
Its aggressive expansion contrasts with established players like DMART, Tanishq, and Chroma, who focus on profitability and niche dominance.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

This episode of Two by Two was first published on 22 May 2025.

Premium subscribers of The Ken have full access to ALL our premium audio. They are available exclusively via The Ken’s subscriber apps. If you don’t have them, just download one and log in to unlock everything. Get your premium subscription using this link.

Not a Premium subscriber? You can subscribe to The Ken Premium on Apple Podcasts for an easy monthly price (Rs 299 in India). The channel includes ALL our premium podcasts.

Reliance Retail is a behemoth that sells everything—from the recently revived Campa Cola to luxury jackets. And the more than 19,300 stores across its verticals makes it the largest retailer in the country. But Reliance Retail seems to have run the race a bit too fast, and is now plagued by its very efforts to dominate every market it enters.

In episode 43 of Two by Two, hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan discuss how Reliance Retail’s size may be turning out to be its biggest challenge with deputy editor Seetharaman G, who leads The Ken’s coverage on retail.

–

Additional reading:

Why Reliance Retail will be stock-market pundit’s most perplexing company? – https://the-ken.com/story/no-ipo-talk-at-agm-yet-reliance-retail-will-be-stock-pundits-biggest-puzzle/

Reliance Retail comes back to earth – https://the-ken.com/tradetricks/reliance-retail-comes-back-to-earth/

The curious entry of Jio Financial Services into the Nifty 50 – https://the-ken.com/long_and_short/the-curious-entry-of-jio-financial-services-into-the-nifty-50/

Additional listening:

Dmart versus the challengers at the gate – https://the-ken.com/podcasts/two-by-two/dmart-versus-the-challengers-at-the-gate/

–

If you’re a Premium subscriber to The Ken, you can listen to the full episode, along with all our other podcasts, exclusively on our apps now.

Not a premium subscriber? You can subscribe to The Ken Premium channel on Apple Podcasts, which unlocks access to all our premium audio offerings at a great monthly recurring price.

–

This episode of Two by Two was produced by Hari Krishna. Rajiv CN, our resident sound engineer, mixed and mastered this episode.

If you liked this episode of Two by Two, please share it with your friends and family who would be interested in listening to the episode. And if you have more thoughts on the discussion, we’d love to hear your arguments as well. You can write to us at twobytwo@the-ken.com.