Tata CLiQ CEO Vikas Purohit Quits Ahead Of Tata Neu Merger

SUMMARY

Purohit’s resignation comes after serving six years as a CXO-level executive at Tata CLiQ and his tenure as the CEO since July 2018

Tata CLiQ is slated to be merged with Tata Neu, according to media reports

Holding company Tata Sons has started to consolidate similar entities under group companies to form synergies, reduce costs and focus on scalability

Tata CLiQ CEO Vikas Purohit has reportedly resigned from his post, having taken up an offer from an MNC in a non-competing sector to head its India business.

Per an ET report, the announcement was made at a recent board meeting.

Purohit’s resignation comes after six years of serving as a CXO-level executive at Tata CLiQ, having been the CEO since July 2018, his LinkedIn profile showed. He also led the operations at the ecommerce marketplace between 2016 and 2018.

An IIM Bangalore and IIT (BHU) alumnus, Purohit was also associated with Amazon, Reliance Brands, Tommy Hilfiger and Aditya Birla Fashion before Tata CLiQ.

Purohit’s resignation represents the second high-level exit at Tata’s ecommerce entities in around three months. In July, Tata Neu’s CTO Sauvik Banerjjee quit, ahead of taking up the CEO position at London-based fintech startup Rezolve Limited.

The move also comes at a time when there are structural changes afoot within the Tata Group. The salt-to-software conglomerate is consolidating all of its ecommerce operations under one entity, the Tata Neu super app.

Reportedly, Tata CLiQ is also slated to be merged with Tata Neu. Recently, the ecommerce platform has exited the electronics category and sold its inventory to Croma for around INR 113 Cr.

Currently, Tata UniStore operates Tata CliQ, a joint venture between Tata Industries and Tata Group’s retail venture Trent.

Having started operations in 2016, Tata CLiQ recorded losses of INR 750.62 Cr in FY22, though its revenue increased 137% to reach INR 844.6 Cr.

The ecommerce platform is reportedly planning to launch offline stores to sell beauty and cosmetic products, rivalling Nykaa and SUGAR Cosmetics under the brand name Tata CLiQ Pallete.

All Of Tata’s Ecommerce To Tata Neu

A subsidiary of Tata Digital, Tata Neu already offers all of Tata’s ecommerce platforms within the super app.

Some of the entities that feature on Tata Neu include Tata CLiQ, Tata CLiQ Luxury, Croma and Westside along with startup acquisitions including 1mg and BigBasket and Tata’s legacy brands such as Titan, Taj Hotels and most recently, Air India.

According to reports from late last month, Tata Sons have started to consolidate similar entities under group companies to form synergies, reduce costs and focus on scalability.

As such, Tata Digital has become the home for all of the group’s ecommerce entities.

The company’s board also approved an INR 3,462 Cr cash injection from Tata Sons, taking its authorised share capital to INR 20,000 Cr. In April this year, Tata Digital secured an additional INR 5,882 Cr from Tata Sons, taking its funding to INR 9,344 Cr for FY23.