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Tag: UrbanLadder

  • Reliance acquires majority stake in UrbanLadder

    Reliance acquires majority stake in UrbanLadder

    New Delhi: Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries continues with its acquisition streak. After acquiring stakes in NetMeds, Future Group and Flipkart, it has now taken a controlling stake in the popular furniture etailer UrbanLadder.

    RRVL has acquired 96 per cent equity holding in Urban Ladder Home Décor Solutions Pvt Ltd (Urban Ladder) against an investment of Rs 182.12 crore. RRVL has a further option of acquiring the balance stake, taking its shareholding to 100 per cent of the equity share capital of UrbanLadder.

    RRVL has proposed to make a further investment of up to Rs 75 crore, which is expected to be completed by December 2023.

    The acquisition further helps Reliance to expand its product portfolio and widen its offerings to the consumers. Some of these categories are apparel, electronics, white goods, groceries, medicines, furniture, and others. 

    “The aforesaid investment will further enable the group’s digital and new commerce initiatives and widen the bouquet of consumer products provided by the group, while enhancing user engagement and experience across its retail offerings.”

    UrbanLadder was one of the earliest entrants in online furniture retailing. It started operations in February 2012 and has been selling home furniture and décor products. It also has a chain of retail stores in several cities across India.

    As per a BSE listing, UrbanLadder’s audited turnover was Rs 434.00 crore, Rs 151.22 crore and Rs 50.61 crore, and Net Profit / (Loss) of Rs 49.41 crore, Rs (118.66) crore and Rs (457.97) crore in FY 2019, FY 2018 and FY 2017 respectively.

    The furniture retailer has created a big online community and strong recall. It has nearly 830k+ members on Facebook and 185k members on Instagram. It is also expected to have a strong pool of databases of consumers that will help Reliance new commerce initiatives in the long run.
     

  • Brands halt retail expansion; focus on online models

    Brands halt retail expansion; focus on online models

    NEW DELHI: As the digital media started to pick up pace in India, retail brands like Pepperfry, Zivame, Nykaa, Lenskart, UrbanLadder, cropped up with entirely online business models. Slowly, they began to enter into the offline space to help customers engage with the brand in multiple ways and maintain recall factors. But with almost a 50 per cent drop in footfall and high rent rates, companies are unable to sustain. It’s not uncommon to hear of layoffs as well.

    The reverse phenomenon is happening now. Offline retailers are going online as they see that’s where maximum sales will happen. Most of them have paused omnichannel expansion across India.

    Furniture e-commerce brand Pepperfry had delayed its plans to launch new stores to mid-June due to the lockdown but has now resumed their offline expansion. The brand used to get 38 per cent from offline sales. As per media reports, fashion retail brand FabAlley is also dealing with the same issue. The brand has around 430 stores across India out of which only 200 are currently open. However, its online sales have picked up at a higher pace.

    Even cosmetic brand Nykaa, which extensively forayed into offline stores, has also taken a blow due to the lockdown. According to reports, the brand believes online is the only option to bounce back. 

    Business strategist and angel investor Lloyd Mathias explains, “Shutting down brick n mortar stores will certainly impact business revenue in the short term. Categories which are overly dependent on physical stores such as spas and salons and luxury goods will take a big hit and some permanent loss of revenue.”

    However, Brand-nomics MD Viren Razdan feels, “It depends on the digital maturity of the product category and within that, the role your brand has played up until now. Have you been a late entrant to the digital play or were you up ahead in the game? New categories would have teething issues such as jewellery shopping might not have the comfort of first-time digital shoppers.” 

    According to the Retailers Association of India (RAI) report, malls in India have registered negative growth and the street retail shops have also seen a decline. 

    The lower demand for offline shops in India is due to the touch-based factor and even brands like FabIndia have started a new category of ‘experimental zones’ for better engagement. Once the situation returns to normalcy, brands will prefer an offline medium again.

    Independent communication and marketing consultant Karthik Srinivasan shares, “Offline behaviour in India is deep-rooted, and the fact that digital money and internet availability is not 100 per cent, an offline presence is a necessity. Offline is an experience-led medium. Most brands that go back to offline would probably start questioning what they are bringing in terms of the experience that cannot be mirrored online. And that difference is what will help them continue because if everything else can be done online, there is no need for the offline version.”

    Mathias also feels that brick and mortar presence will remain relevant for consumers who want the look and feel of real shopping. “A large section of consumers will always like this option available to them. So, while the Covid2019 pandemic has been a set back to the offline stores – over time they will come back. However, for many this period has broken the stranglehold of brick and mortar with increased adoption of digital payment options and the sheer number of first-time online shoppers,” he asserted. 

    “India will always have markets with our country operating at varying levels of sophistication in technology adoption, so a phyigital reality will have room to play for some time to come,” Razdan shares.