Tata Group Is Now All Set To Launch A Ecommerce Marketplace, Starts Building Team

Ecommerce market in India is projected to explode and reach $100 Bn by the end of 2020. The presence of number of marketplaces and niche players in the country has not only intensified the war among these players but is also lurking major industry biggies to taste the ecommerce segment in the country.

Now it looks like Tata Group has started feeling the heat of ecommerce and now is getting very much serious about it. When Ratan Tata made his personal investment in Snapdeal and Bluestone, it was expected that Tata group is planning something big in the ecommerce but however things weren’t clear. The growing ecommerce market is something which no industry biggie would like to miss, so is Tata.

Tata which already runs Croma consumer electronics chain and Landmark bookstores, is expected to launch its ecommerce marketplace next year to heat up the competition in the segment, where players like Amazon and homegrown Flipkart and Snapdeal are working hard to stay ahead.

The group has already started putting together the team which will be taking care of the Tata’s ecommerce foray. Ashutosh Pandey, former COO of the Group’s bookstore chain Landmark, is expected to lead the team and take forward Tata’s plan for the ecommerce.

The company has already roped in Sarvesh Dwivedi, who has been heading the lifestyle division of eBay India. With this, Gurvinderjit Singh Samra, who has worked with Tata Group’s different arms, including its life-science and healthcare unit, Titan and Indian Hotels, has also joined the ecommerce team, suggest a report by ET.

A spokesperson of the Tata Sons said that the ecommerce is of interest to the Tata Group, and but declined sharing much information and said that more details will be shared at the appropriated moment.  

Through its marketplace, Tata Group initially plans to sell its own brands including the Bazaar supermarket and Westside department store. Further, it is also in talks with its joint venture partner Inditex to get Spanish brand Zara on board as well.

With presence of number of players backed by VCs and huge fundings, let’s see how this roll out will help Tata Group and will the brand name help it to play well in the ecommerce segment.