KOLKATA: Reliance Brands will soon foray into beauty and children's  clothing retail segments and is keen to step up online presence by  launching exclusive web stores for all the luxury brands under its  kitty, a top official said.

"Beauty, especially colour cosmetics and fragrances, and children's clothing are two areas which are getting a higher share of the consumer's wallet which we will complete our  retail presence," said Darshan Mehta, president and CEO at Reliance  Brands, a part of Reliance Industries.

"We are scouting for  partnerships with brands which have fair bit of consumer knowledge in  India and will be positioned in the mid-market segment," he said on the  sidelines of launch of Hamleys toy store here on Monday.

Reliance Brands currently has partnership with 18 global mid-to-luxury brands  including Diesel, Hamleys, Steve Madden, Timberland, Kenneth Cole,  Ermenegildo Zegna, and Paul & Sharks.

While seven of these  brands are already sold online through platforms such as Amazon,  Flipkart and Myntra, Mehta said the company plans to build dedicated  online presence for each of its brands.

"We currently have  exclusive online stores for Steve Madden and Quiksilver, and in two  weeks will launch a dedicated online store for Superdry. We may also  sell lower price line for most of the brands for exclusive online sales. For instance, we have done it for Steve Madden's brand Madlove which is almost 60% cheaper and has been selling successfully in Myntra," said  Mehta.

Currently, online sales account for 5% of Reliance Brands' total revenue.

Reliance Brands operates 120 stores across brands. Out of them, Mehta said six  stores are under-performers while ten stores have far surpassed the  profitability target. He said the company aims for store level  profitability within 18 months of operation.

Hamleys is the biggest business of Reliance Brands with 14 stores across eight cities.

Source: economictimes