Tata Cliq likely to become bigger than Trent

24 May '17

3 min read

Tata Industries’ ecommerce retail brand Tata Cliq may become bigger than its listed brick-and-mortar business Trent in the next three years. The company, which began operations a year ago, plans to add nearly 400 brands and categories such as jewellery, home furnishings and children’s garments in the next year, according to a report in a leading daily.

Tata Industries owns 90 per cent of Tata Unistore, which operates the online marketplace Tata Cliq. The rest is owned by Trent, another Tata company that operates retail chains such as Westside, Star Bazaar and Landmark, the report said.

Despite selling over 75 per cent of non-Tata brands on its portal, Tata Cliq is still seen as a Tata-only website, a perception the company intends to change with new marketing initiatives, the report said.

“Because we have done no advertising, several people believe that Tata Cliq is a Tata brand ecommerce site. They don’t realise that we have 800 brands going. We will have to change that perception,” said Kanwar Rameshwar Singh Jamwal, executive director of Tata Industries, according to the report.

Tata Cliq , which entered the market in May last year, has been betting on ‘phygital’ model, or a combination of online buying and store purchases, to ram its way out of the clutter. About 70 per cent of orders are shipped out of store, while 4-8 per cent are collected by customers. Tata’s push comes at a time when the country’s two largest ecommerce marketplaces - Amazon and Flipkart - are engaged in a fierce price war.

Tata Industries, which has total sales of $108.78 billion, has a presence in the retail segment through Trent and Infiniti Retail, which operates the Croma chain of multi-brand electronics stores. Trent recorded sales of about Rs 2,400 crore during financial year 2015-16.

“Our fulfillment cost per unit is half of other players and our average selling price is 10-30 per cent higher than other players. So, you can see what we are pegging viability on,” Jamwal, an IIM-A alumnus, who started his career with TAS (Tata Administrative Service) three decades ago, said.

“Because most of our products are in stores, and not in separate warehouses, we are saving 50 per cent in fulfillment costs. This year will be crucial in enhancing our break-even visibility,” Jamwal said.

The group also owns the Titan watch brand and jewellery company Tanishq. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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