Reliance is trying to become "the coolest one"

Time of India

6 hours ago

After pushing its own mobiles and soft drinks into India's vast consumer market,
Reliance Retail
has set its eyes on selling refrigerators, ACs and washing machines in a segment dominated by global giants such as LG and Samsung. The company is rolling out a bold strategy anchored in legacy, scale and disruption to dominate the fast-growing
consumer durables
business. Reliance Retail has been expanding its private-label portfolio and growing its footprint in home electronics and appliances, a segment boosted by rising incomes, urbanisation and mounting competition. As of June 2024, India's consumer goods market was the fastest-growing among major economies and could nearly double to Rs 3 lakh crore by 2029, according to an EY report.
Reliance Retail's foray into the consumer durables segment represents a strategic expansion that mirrors its earlier playbook in the
FMCG
space -- reviving legacy brands, leveraging distribution muscle and disrupting a multinational-dominated market with a "
Made in India
" narrative. The recent acquisition of the iconic
Kelvinator
brand marks a significant milestone in this journey and signals the company's long-term ambitions in India's fast-growing
home appliances
market.
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From licensing to ownership: Kelvinator's strategic role
Reliance Retail on Friday announced that it has bought Kelvinator from Sweden's Electrolux to broaden its range of offerings in the durables market. Kelvinator, a legacy brand going a century back, is known for pioneering home refrigeration and its popular 'The Coolest One' tagline in the 1970s and 80s.
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Reliance Retail's move to fully acquire Kelvinator, from being a licensee since 2019, transforms its relationship with the brand from a tactical play into a strategic asset. The Kelvinator name, synonymous with refrigerators and washing machines for decades, still commands trust among older Indian consumers. Although its presence had faded post liberalization and with the dominance of Korean and Japanese players, the brand's latent equity makes it a strong candidate for revival under Reliance's stewardship.
By integrating Kelvinator into its portfolio, Reliance gains more than just a brand. It inherits a lineage of product design, recall and goodwill that can be scaled rapidly across its retail empire. The plan is to push not just refrigerators and washing machines, but expand into air conditioners and kitchen appliances, aligning with rising demand from a growing middle class and increasing urbanisation.
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Wyzr
, the opening gambit
The acquisition dovetails with Reliance Retail's earlier 2024 launch of Wyzr, a homegrown consumer durables brand positioned as a disruptor to multinationals like LG, Samsung and
Whirlpool
. Wyzr marks Reliance's intent to go beyond legacy brands and build new-age offerings tailored to Indian consumers, with competitive pricing and design suited for Indian conditions.
Reliance's dual-brand strategy -- Kelvinator as a legacy player and Wyzr as an aspirational, value-driven brand -- allows it to target both traditional and younger, aspirational consumer segments. The company is reportedly engaging with domestic contract manufacturers while planning to build its own facilities in the medium term, aiming at control quality, cost and innovation.
Haier
and Whirlpool in crosshairs
Reliance isn't just looking to grow organically but actively eyeing major inorganic opportunities. Reports of its interest in a strategic stake in Haier's India operations, as well as its bid for controlling interest in Whirlpool's India business, underscore its intent to consolidate the fragmented consumer durables landscape. These moves, if successful, could catapult Reliance into the top tier of players in India's appliance market overnight.
With Haier looking to localise and Whirlpool potentially changing hands, Reliance is positioning itself as a natural homegrown partner for global giants who need distribution and operational support in India's complex market. The competition is stiff as Bharti Group and Havells are also in the fray for Haier and Whirlpool respectively. But Reliance's deep pockets and operational muscle give it a clear edge.
FMCG playbook redux: From Campa to Kelvinator
The consumer durables strategy closely echoes Reliance's approach in FMCG, where it bought legacy brands like Campa Cola, Raskik and Sosyo to quickly build shelf presence and brand recognition. The approach is clear --- acquire heritage brands, modernize them, and plug them into Reliance's expansive distribution system and scale fast.
This strategy bypasses the long gestation period required to build new brands from scratch and leverages nostalgia and trust, both powerful emotional drivers in Indian consumption.
What sets Reliance apart from other players is its integrated ecosystem, from retail stores and online platforms to telecom and payments businesses. These allow it to not just sell products, but also create whole systems for marketing, logistics and after-sales support. Consumer durable products sold through this ecosystem generate rich consumer data, enabling personalised offers, servicing models and upselling across product categories. Moreover, Reliance's deep discounting power, control over shelf space and fast execution give it significant advantages over legacy brands that rely on traditional dealer-distributor models.
So far, Reliance's own brands, Reconnect and Wyzr which it has founded, have met with limited success. But it is trying to majorly disrupt the market by combining the nostalgia and trust of legacy brands like Kelvinator with the energy of new entrants like Wyzr, and by aggressively pursuing M&A deals with global majors. Reliance may want to do a Jio in the consumer durable market but it's a long-term bet.