Reliance in talks to acquire Urban Ladder & Milkbasket

August 17, 2020: Reliance Industries (RIL) is reportedly in talks with online furniture retail company Urban Ladder & milk delivery company Milkbasket to acquire both companies in order to strengthen its e-commerce capabilities.

“The discussions with Urban Ladder have been going on for the last few months and are now at an advanced stage. This comes at a time when the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate is also said to be in talks to acquire players like e-pharmacy startup Netmeds and lingerie retailer Zivame, even as it scripts consolidation with Future Retail,” said The Times of India report.

In a recent webinar organised by Indian Transport & Logistics News, experts noted that investments are directed towards the technology that could automate e-commerce operations while cold chain and e-comm dominance in Tier 2,3 & 4 cities are the emerging trends in the post-Covid-19 era.

In May 2020, Reliance rolled out its grocery delivery platform Jiomart and since the Covid-19 pandemic, the company has accelerated its e-commerce capabilities taking on both Flipkart and Amazon Inda.

FICCI recently noted that there was a 2.5x growth (about 8.8 million) in the number of Indian households using e-Pharmacy services in the Covid-19 lockdown period and estimates that it will tap 70 million households by FY25.