Croma, Snapdeal.com tie-up to sell electronic goods online

Tata Group-promoted Infiniti Retail, which runs consumer durables chain Croma, have entered into a strategic partnership with e-commerce firm Snapdeal.com, where Croma will open its brand store on Snapdeal’s marketplace to tap more customers.

Tata Group-promoted Infiniti Retail, which runs consumer durables chain Croma, have entered into a strategic partnership with e-commerce firm Snapdeal.com, where Croma will open its brand store on Snapdeal’s marketplace to tap more customers.

Interestingly, Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, picked up a stake in Snapdeal last month. Officials, however, said the tie-up had no relation with the investment made by Tata.

“We are only present in 16 cities. Snapdeal brings presence across the country, so we get access to more customers… The association is designed to enable both the firms leverage from each other’s strengths,” said Ajit Joshi, MD and CEO, Infiniti Retail.

Apart from physical retail stores, Croma also has its own e-commerce portal — cromaretail.com — and is present on other online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay.

In the initial phase, Croma and Snapdeal would jointly work towards market development initiatives, establishment of joint collaboration on customer and vendor outreach programmes and category development.

“On Snapdeal, we want to create certainty of availability of products at best prices. Croma has an amazing array of products in retail stores,” said Kunal Bahl, co-founder and CEO, Snapdeal.com.

According to analysts, getting on to an online marketplace helps brick-and-mortar players scale up faster at lower costs. Also, online portals get more customer traffic with presence of strong retail brands.

Last month, Tata Value Homes entered into a partnership with Snapdeal to allow customers purchase homes online.