Tata Group to launch e-comm platform Tata CliQ on 27 May

Tata Unistore, a Tata group business venture, on Monday said the Tata Group's e-commerce platform, Tata CLiQ, will open to consumers on Friday, 27 May 2016, across its website, mobile site and mobile apps (Android and iOS).

Tata CLiQ will initially offer consumers products across apparel, electronics and footwear categories. Over the next few months, the online store will expand its offering by adding several other categories, brands and exciting features.

"Clique and Click came together to form the perfect name for our platform, which curates authentic and exclusive products for customers with impeccable taste. A name that says shopping online is now so easy and trustworthy, that all it takes is a click. The 'Q' in the logo represents a magnifying glass – a visual representation of the brand's focus on curating only the best brands and products," said Ashutosh Pandey, chief executive officer, Tata CLiQ.

Tata Group plans to sell both own products and other brands across lifestyle, electronics and other segments.

Software services exporter Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) will build the backbone for the venture. The group has signed up 80 brands, which will be offered on its website as well as through omni-channel options.

The venture will be an omni-channel branded marketplace, which will connect the online and offline assets of companies, thus offering a different experience from pure-play e-commerce companies such as Amazon India, Flipkart and Snapdeal.

The Tata Group hopes to bring in a unique value proposition of an onmi-channel model with a hyper local type delivery format using their existing stores.

E-tail in India is growing at a faster clip than brick-and-mortar retail. The share of modern trade will slip from 17 per cent in 2013 to 13 per cent in 2019, while that of e-commerce companies will jump from 2 per cent to 11 per cent in the same period, according to a February report published by property consultant and advisor Knight Frank India Pvt. Ltd and lobby group Retailers Association of India.

The e-commerce market will account for 2.5 per cent of India's gross domestic product by 2030, growing 15 times and reaching $300 billion, a Goldman Sachs report said in May. The current size of e-commerce is $20 billion.

Another major group, the Mahindras had, in  September last year, announced plans to launch its e-commerce venture M2ALL.com, which will offer the entire range of Mahindra products and services. It will be operated through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary called e-Marketplace Pvt Ltd.

In October 2015, the Aditya Birla Group launched a new online fashion store, joining the growing trend of brick-and-mortar companies moving online. The portal www.abof.com will offer shoppers brands from both the Aditya Birla Group and other companies. Reliance Industries Ltd is planning its own e-commerce business.