Retail
Reliance Retail profit falls 24% to ₹2,611 crore
Gross revenue up 6.4% to ₹91,716 crore and 303 stores added, but digital bets and festive shift squeeze margins for merchants watching till traffic.
Meera Iyer, Retail correspondent··4 min read
Net profit dropped 24.3% to ₹2,611 crore while EBITDA margin slipped 120 basis points to 7.8%. Customer transactions still grew 7% despite festivals moving to the December quarter. JioMart revenue surged 42% on higher average order values and 24% more units per order.
Shop-floor teams at kiranas and dark stores feel the pinch from absorbed input-cost inflation and digital investments. A rider fulfilling a JioMart grocery drop now competes harder on speed as the platform covers over 5,000 stores in 1,000-plus cities.
The new model with fast growing Digital Commerce and B2B channels is working and funded by the profits of offline business.
The margin hit squeezes pure-play quick-commerce rivals on unit economics while helping Reliance fund offline profits into B2B and digital channels. Closures of unproductive stores netted a 222-outlet drop from June.
Watch the December quarter festive window and next earnings filing for whether digital commerce share in grocery keeps rising 270 basis points year-on-year.