Reliance-backed Zivame bets on India’s small cities with fresh store blitz, COO says

Reliance-backed Zivame bets on India’s small cities with fresh store blitz, COO says

Mumbai, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), opens new tab-backed lingerie retailer Zivame plans to open 60 to 80 franchise-led stores over the next year, its chief operating officer said, as it looks to tap India’s smaller cities for future growth.

Founded in 2011 as an online-only brand, Zivame has since expanded into physical stores and now runs 174 exclusive brand outlets. Reliance Retail took a stake in the company in 2021 as part of its wider push into apparel and innerwear.

Zivame is focusing on India’s tier-2 and tier-3 cities for its next phase of growth, where demand is increasingly mirroring that of metro markets as social media accelerates adoption, COO Kiruba Devi said on the sidelines of a Retailers Association of India event in Mumbai.

She declined to give a regional revenue split but said the company turned profitable in the previous quarter, without elaborating because it now operates under a listed entity.

The brand, which is already available online in markets including the United States through Amazon and in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia via local partners, is also exploring overseas expansion through franchise arrangements, with an initial focus on Southeast Asia, Devi said.

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“Southeast Asia would be the right place for us to immediately pitch in,” she said, adding that Zivame is in talks and could launch a store in the region by the end of next year.

Zivame, which began as an online aggregator of lingerie brands, has expanded its product range to include shapewear, activewear and loungewear.

Devi said the company also plans to pilot an entry into kidswear, without giving further details.

Chandini Monnappa leads a team of reporters at Reuters overseeing coverage of European companies. She has helped run various breaking news teams over the last seven years, covering corporate news across the UK, South Africa, Australia, and Asia. She has previously reported on automaker and consumer retail firms in India and frequently contributes to the coverage of Indian general and political news.