The Alibaba effect? Tata Group bets on e-commerce, may rope in Zara too

The multiple investments made by its chairman emeritus Ratan Tata in e-tail seems to have inspired the Tata Group too which is now reportedly planning a big bang entryinto the e-commerce space with a marketplace-based model.

The Economic Times reported that the plan will be headed by Tata industries and the company’s e-commerce venture will enter new businesses that its units, like electronics store Croma are not engaged in currently.

While the marketplace-based venture that is expected to be launched next year is still to be named, it will allow other merchants to sell alongside Tata’s various units. The group has already reportedly begun enrolling vendors and hiring people, the report said.

The venture will initially only showcase brands from the Tata chain like Westside, Croma and Star Bazaar but the group is trying to rope in fashion brand Zara too, with whom it has a partnership in India, to also sell on the marketplace platform, the ET report quoted an unnamed source as saying.

Zara incidentally sells its products through its own online platform internationally and it remains to be seen if they agree to Tata’s proposition given theyare curtailed by Indian laws to start their own e-commerce venture.

While the Tata group is reportedly inspired by the T-mall site that is run by Alibaba group, it seems to be trailing Ratan Tata who has already made personal investments in e-retailer Snapdeal and online jewellery retailer Bluestone.

Snapdeal, which incidentally uses the marketplace model to sell products, has been modelled on the lines of Alibaba and already has tie-ups with Tata group firms like Tata Housing and Croma that have begun to sell products on the website.

Other business houses like Reliance Industries and Aditya Birla Group have reportedly been hinting at forays into the e-commerce space but have not revealed any concrete plans so far. Others like Future group, which has unsuccessfully made a foray into the world of e-commerce in the past, are readying for a return to the industry too.