Reliance Retail aims to bolster footwear offering and market share with V Retail

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jan 30, 2023

Reliance Industries Limited’s Reliance Retail aims to tap into growth in India’s footwear industry through its acquisition of V Retail Private Limited. 

India’s footwear industry has largely recovered from the effects of the pandemic and double digit growth is predicted for both 2023 and 2024 after growing 22% in 2022, according to GlobalData’s Market Analyser tool. By expanding South India-based V Retail, Reliance Retail is keen to increase its market share. 
 
“Reliance Retail’s decision to acquire V Retail comes at a time when the footwear market is seeing a pent-up demand from young consumers in the 16–34 years age group, who have been eager to step out of their homes more often, driving the demand for footwear,” said GlobalData retail analyst Raviteja Neralla, Just Style reported. 

V Retail has a brick-and-mortar store network of 32 addresses, located across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana and retails under the brand name Centro Style. Centro runs a wide range of footwear brands, which enables it to cater to a diverse array of customer demographics. 
 
“Reliance Retail’s acquisition of V Retail is part of its broader ambition to capture diverse facets of the growing Indian economy,” said Neralla. “In India, the fear of recession is not as strong as it is in the west. As a result, Reliance Retail found it more attractive to increase investments in the Indian market. Over the past few months, the retail giant acquired several brands, including Campa Cola, Lotus Choclate, and Sosyo. In 2022, it also announced the acquisition of Metro AG’s wholesale operations in the country to increase its share in the Indian retail industry.”