ISHA AMBANI, director, Reliance Retail, nowadays construes what Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, once said: “The secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want.” Isha is now building an inclusive retail business through a variety of brands and strategic partnerships, including Campa Cola, Sosyo, and Lotus. Wherever she finds a gap in products and pricing, Isha tasks the retail team to bridge it with in-house brands.
The eldest child of RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani will complete 10 years on the board of Reliance Retail this year. In the initial two years until 2016, Isha was in the learning phase, focusing on profitability at each store. In the second phase, she began involving herself in the consumer side of retail as well as the telecom business, which launched in 2016.
India’s largest retailer operates 18,774 stores with an area of 72.9 mn. sq. ft. It posted operational revenue of ₹2.52 lakh crore in FY24, and net profit of ₹7,045 crore. When she joined the business in FY15, Reliance Retail had 12.5 mn. sq. ft. of space and 2,621 stores.
Isha is now focused on enabling artisans and small merchants to thrive alongside modern retail. JioMart has on-boarded over 25,000 artisans, weavers and micro-entrepreneurs. She is also building a designer label powerhouse from India by partnering with some of India’s best designers, such as, including Manish Malhotra, Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, Anamika Khanna and Ritu Kumar. — Nevin John