Mumbai: Tata Unistore, a Tata Industries incubated business venture, on Tuesday announced the launch of its e-commerce platform, Tata CLiQ.

It will open to consumers on 27 May across its website, mobile site and mobile apps (Android and iOS), the company said in a statement. At launch, Tata CLiQ will offer consumers apparel, electronics and footwear products. Over the next few months, it plans to expand by adding more categories, brands and features.

“Clique and Click came together to form the perfect name for our platform, which curates authentic and exclusive products for customers with impeccable taste. A name that says shopping online is now so easy and trustworthy, that all it takes is a click. The ‘Q’ in the logo represents a magnifying glass—a visual representation of the brand’s focus on curating only the best brands and products,” said Ashutosh Pandey, chief executive officer (CEO), Tata CLiQ.

In an interview with Mint on 6 August, 2015 Nirmalya Kumar, member of the group executive council at Tata Sons Ltd had said the e-commerce website will sell both Tata and non-Tata brands across lifestyle, electronics and other segments. Software services exporter Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) will build the backbone for the venture. The group has signed up 80 brands, which will be offered on its website as well as through omni-channel options.

The venture will be an omni-channel branded marketplace, which will connect the online and offline assets of companies. The experience for consumers will be different from that offered by pure-play e-commerce companies, such as Amazon India, Flipkart and Snapdeal. “What we have experienced so far is e-retail 1.0 with two different sets of people doing retail by themselves,” K.R.S. Jamwal, executive director, Tata Industries Ltd, which houses e-commerce initiatives of the conglomerate, in an interview in September.

Sreedhar Prasad, partner- e-commerce at KPMG India said Tatas could bring in a unique value proposition of an onmi-channel model with a hyper local type delivery format using their existing stores. “Their strong retail presence in the two key categories of electronics/cellphones and fashion can enable them in this type of fulfilment. Further, the brand promise of Tatas could attract a newer set of customers online, and generate loyalty from their vast employee base in India,” said Prasad.