Brands
Future Group unveils ‘Free Shopping Weekend’
MUMBAI: Brand Factory over the years has created many successful promos. Despite being on sale 365 days of the year they wanted to break the stereotype of a typical Sale which happens during this period. The need of the hour was to create a big day/s for shopping, increase awareness and establish a property as unique and unprecedented. We were actually offering Free Shopping to customers apart from giving them a flat 60 per cent discount.
Future Group Brand Factory CMO Roch D’souza said, “While each offer from Brand Factory is in itself a big deal, we wanted to create a campaign that will be direct and yet communicate the bigness of the offer. As we offer 20-70 per cent discount throughout the year, this was the biggest deal that Brand Factory or any retailer has ever offered to consumers. We believe that the campaign will be an iconic property that shoppers will remember for a long time. As a brand we have made big promises and have always delivered on the promises. Our offers are transparent and the proposition is delivered at the stores. Even in the Free Shopping Weekend, we are returning more than 100 per cent to the customer.”
DDB Mudra Group EVP & business partner Karma Sanjay Panday added, “The films are based on the typical consumer behaviour of how consumers get excited about small discounts and offers while shopping online or at a retail store when they feel they have done something very smart by grabbing the best deals. The idea was to make them realize that they can actually get it free instead of looking for discounts or offers at Brand Factory ‘Free Shopping Weekend.’ We took this insight and weaved it into 2 interesting daily life situations, ‘Boss Ji Ka Chamcha’ and ‘Love Gifts’ where both the protagonists behave as if they have grabbed a smart discount/offer only to make them realize their folly later that they could have got all of it for free. Thus the campaign idea of ‘Mauka hai smart bano.’”
Brands
Reliance Retail FY26 revenue rises 11.8 Per Cent to Rs 3.7 lakh crore
Q4 revenue up 11.1 Per Cent, hyperlocal orders surge 4x, PAT steady
MUMBAI: Reliance Retail isn’t just ringing up sales, it’s ringing doorbells faster than ever. Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) reported a steady FY26 performance, with growth powered by store expansion, a sharp surge in hyperlocal commerce, and consistent traction across grocery, fashion and jewellery. For the full year, revenue rose 11.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 3,70,026 crore. In the January–March quarter, revenue from operations climbed 11.1 per cent to Rs 87,344 crore, up from Rs 78,622 crore a year earlier.
Operating performance remained stable, with Q4 EBITDA inching up 3.1 per cent YoY to Rs 6,921 crore from Rs 6,711 crore. However, quarterly profit after tax held steady at Rs 3,563 crore. For the full fiscal, PAT grew 11.7 per cent to Rs 13,842 crore.
Expansion remained a key lever. RRVL added 1,564 new stores during FY26, while simultaneously scaling its digital and hyperlocal commerce play. The latter emerged as a standout, with daily orders surging more than fourfold year-on-year in Q4, underlining a clear shift towards faster, localised fulfilment.
In grocery, large-format stores maintained momentum, aided by festive demand and the expansion of Smart Bazaar, which crossed 1,000 stores. Promotional campaigns such as ‘Full Paisa Vasool’ delivered record results, with sales rising 26 per cent YoY.
Digital commerce also picked up pace. JioMart added 5.8 million new users in Q4, nearly doubling its registered base year-on-year. Hyperlocal orders grew 29 per cent sequentially and over 300 per cent annually during the quarter.
Fashion and lifestyle saw steady traction. Ajio recorded a 23 per cent YoY rise in average bill value, while fast-fashion platform Shein crossed 11 million app installs, scaling rapidly with expanding product lines.
The jewellery business added further shine, with average bill value jumping 53 per cent YoY, largely driven by rising gold prices and sustained consumer demand.
Commenting on the shift, RRVL executive director Isha Ambani said hyperlocal commerce has become a structural growth driver, with orders rising more than fourfold over the year.
Looking ahead to FY27, the company is betting on technology to deepen engagement. The focus, Ambani noted, will be on AI-led merchandising, sharper pricing strategies and disciplined execution turning scale into sustained customer value.
In short, the carts are fuller, the clicks are quicker, and the next phase looks less about reach and more about precision.
