The Hindu Business Line : Infinity Retail plans to launch online sales

(from right) Mr R.K. Krishna Kumar, Chairman, Infiniti Retail Ltd & Director, Tata Sons Ltd; Mr Ajit Joshi, MD & CEO, Infiniti Retail Ltd; Mr N. Chandrasekaran, COO, TCS; and Mr N.A. Soonawala, Vice-Chairman, Tata Sons Ltd, at the launch of ‘Croma’ mega electronic and consumer durables store in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Purvita Chatterjee

Mumbai, Dec. 31 The Tata Group company Infinity Retail Ltd is planning to start e-commerce for its Croma brand of stores. The retail company would seek advice from its technical and sourcing partner – Woolworth to make a foray into this arena.

Besides, it would be roping in other Tata group companies such as TCS and Drive India to provide software and logistics support for its e-commerce venture.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Ajit Joshi, CEO & MD, Infiniti Retail Ltd., said, “We would soon be entering the online space and are in the process of building our business model, our partner Woolworth already has a robust model under its DickSmith electronics brand and we would be seeking their advice to enter this business.”

To begin with, the e-commerce foray would be limited to certain major metros while the company would continue to build on its logistics support.

“We would be launching our e-commerce operations in a phased manner as logistics is going to be issue in this venture. Our group logistics company Drive India would become our partners while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) would help in putting up the Web site for us,” added Mr. Joshi.

Meanwhile trying to improve its wafer thin margins in the consumer durable business, the retailer has also decided to launch its private label under the Croma brand. “We expect our private labels to contribute at least 20 per cent of our top line. The Croma brand would be cheaper by 10-15 per cent compared to the rest of the brands in the same category,” said Mr Joshi.

Having sold 3,000 pieces of microwaves under the Croma brand, the other categories being added include split and mobile ACs, chair massagers and vacuum cleaners. “Woolworth is helping in sourcing our private label from China, a country from where most the branded players are already sourcing their durables.”

Besides, Croma is also experimenting with an after sales service in Bangalore. “We are currently working with a Bangalore-based company to service the brands brought from our stores. Going forward we will evaluate how to take this partnership forward,” added Mr Joshi.

To invest Rs 350 cr

Tata Group’s Infiniti Retail Ltd, which operates a national chain of mega stores of consumer electronics and durables under the brand name ‘Croma’, will invest Rs 350 crore in retail business in the next 12 months. This is part of the expansion plans for Croma as the company looks to double the number of stores to 50 within a year, said Mr R.K. Krishna Kumar, Chairman, Infiniti Retail Ltd.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the unveiling of the 10th Croma store in Mumbai, he said that Croma would look for inorganic growth. Mr Krishna Kumar, who is the Vice-Chairman of Indian Hotels Company which runs Taj group of hotels, said the company will fully reopen the heritage wing of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower by September.

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