Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) aims to break the dominance of multinationals in India’s consumer electronics and home appliances market, says the Economic Times. Their weapon is a new brand called Wyzr, made entirely in India.
Reliance is reportedly planning a ‘JioPhone‘ in the Indian consumer electronics market with the Wyzr and the company hopes to ride the ‘Make in India’ wave and achieve similar sustained success with the Wyzr.
An executive told ET, “Reliance has already revolutionized the multinational phone market with its product ‘JioPhone’.”
RIL is reportedly in the process of finalizing manufacturing deals with domestic manufacturers Dixon Technologies and parent company Onida Milk Electronics. Their long-term plan is to set up their own manufacturing facility once Wyzr gains a foothold in the market.
The company’s retail arm, Reliance Retail, has already launched the Wyzr air cooler, reports Economic Times. This is just the beginning of future programs that include televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, small appliances and LED lamps. What’s unique is that Reliance plans to design and develop these products in-house, making them different from previous private label ventures like Reconnect.
Sales strategy and target market
Wyzr products are available through Reliance Digital stores, independent retailers, regional retail chains and e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart. JioMart Digital (JMD), which handles B2B electronics distribution, will play a key role in rolling out Wyzr to other stores using its growing merchant base.
Wyzr’s target market is price-conscious consumers. Wyzr products will be priced competitively compared to established brands such as LG, Samsung and Whirlpool, says the Economic Times.
Learn from the past
Incidentally, this is not Reliance’s first foray into the electronics market. The company previously launched the Reconnect brand, but had limited success due to its reliance on third-party design and manufacturing and limited marketing efforts.
In 2022, Reliance acquired a 50.1% stake in the Indian subsidiary of US manufacturing solutions company Sanmina for Rs 1,670 crore to expand into the electronics manufacturing segment. Sanmina has a 100-acre campus in Chennai and could set up a factory for Wyzr products there, executives said. According to this report, he added: However, nothing has been finalized yet and the priority is to release this product now.
Reliance Retail continues to use the Reconnect brand for its accessories. The company licensed the BPL and Kelvinator brands a few years ago and launched several models of televisions, refrigerators and washing machines, but failed to secure significant market share.
These products are designed and manufactured domestically by companies such as Dixon, Mirc and PG Electroplast, while some are imported from China and Indonesia and manufactured by TCL, Midea and Toshiba.
“Reliliance management believed that to win in this market it needed a private label with strong control over product design and manufacturing,” the executive said.
RIL seems to have learned from these mistakes. Wyzr takes a more comprehensive approach with in-house design, production management through partnerships and potential future facilities, and a broader distribution network.