Brands
Vector Brand Solutions announces its operating leadership team
MUMBAI : Vector Brand Solutions on Tuesday announced its operating leadership and appointed Tushar Bhatia, Ripanka Kalita and Mandar Gore to lead business, creative and strategy respectively.
Earlier in November, Tilt Brand Solutions founder, chairman and MD Joseph (Joe) George had announced the launch of Vector – the group’s next brand & communications enterprise. “With the operating leadership of Vector now in place, I am certain that the vision and ambition for Vector, will be brought to fruition very soon,” stated George while speaking on Vector’s operating leadership team announcement. “With their pedigreed experience in delivering through- the-funnel results for clients, Vector will hopefully soon be the answer for all digital-first marketers. I am absolutely confident that the three of them will live and breathe every day, Vector’s operating philosophy of ‘Pace. Preference. Purpose. Performance.’”
Tushar Bhatia has joined Vector as a senior director – business, after his stint at Maple where he was the chief marketing officer leading the function. He has over 19 years of experience across advertising and marketing stints, across continents too. His prior experience includes leadership positions at Ogilvy Africa where he was the SPOC for Airtel Africa (19 countries), Barclays Bank, Coca Cola, Nestle, Barclays Bank and many more in Sub Saharan Africa. At Y&R Menacom, he was the lead for Nawras Telecommunications (QTEL) Bank Muscat and Khimji Lifestyle in Muscat Oman.
Over the years, Bhatia has also worked at Lowe Lintas and FCB Ulka where he partnered his clients on work for brands like Axis Bank, Canara Robeco MF, Indian Oil Corporation, Reliance Retail, ICICI Bank, Bisleri, Kansai Nerolac Paints, Ultratech Cements, and many more.
Ripanka Kalita has joined Vector director – creative. With over 17 years of experience across Mullen Lintas, Leo Burnett, McCann Erickson, Grey Worldwide and Infectious, Kalita has crafted distinct brand stories across categories and brands. Some of his stellar pieces of work have been seen on campaigns for brands like Pharmeasy, Motilal Oswal, Tata Cliq, Voot, Too Yumm!, Bajaj Avenger, Marico, Reliance Life Insurance, MTV Beats and many more. He has also picked up a number of metals during his career across Cannes, Kyoorius, and the Effies.
Mandar Gore has moved within the group as senior director – strategy. At Tilt Brand Solutions, he was leading strategy on brands like Licious, Livspace, 24 Mantra, The Pink Foundry, Groww, Swiggy to name a few. Gore had joined Tilt after over 16 years across advertising and brand consulting. In his earlier stints at FCB, Ogilvy and Sideways Consulting, he worked on brands like Bournvita, Kamasutra, Fosters, Amaron, Castrol, Mahindra & Mahindra and Pidilite, amongst others. His work on them has won him Indian as well as international effectiveness laurels at Effies India/APAC and AME.
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.
