Reliance Industries stock jumps 3% after report says RIL best positioned to lead India’s e-commerce market

RIL is best positioned to lead India’s $150 e-commerce market in the long run due to its owning the potent combination of the largest retail store network, dominant telecom operations and strong digital media, stated a report by US asset management firm Bernstein Research.

The report said that India is evolving into a three-player market with Amazon, Walmart and Reliance.

According to Bernstein, RIL’s disruptive playbook — integrated offline + online + prime — makes company the strongest competitor to Amazon and Walmart.

“We believe Reliance Retail/Jio is the best-positioned player in the largest and fastest-growing e-commerce market. The advantages of its retail network, mobile network, digital ecosystem and ‘home field advantage’ in a famously complex regulatory and operating environment mean in the long term, it will likely claim the lion’s share of the USD 150 billion-plus e-commerce marketplace,” the report added.

Reliance Jio has 430 million mobile subscribers, and RIL’s retail arm has 18,300 retail stores in India (accounting for $30 billion in sales).

The brokerage’s report said that RIL has seen this coming. “Since 2015, RIL has built: (1) Reliance Retail into an 18,000+ store nationwide chain with GMV of USD 30 billion, (2) a dominant 4G network (430 million subscribers) in Reliance Jio, and (3) a strong digital media platform OTT/IPL, music streaming, news through strategic acquisitions,” it said.

“This makes RIL the only Indian player to have an integrated (offline + online + prime) offering and the ability to compete with global tech giants (Amazon, Walmart),” Bernstein said.

(With PTI inputs)

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