Tata Cliq, the flagship e-commerce platform of Tata Group, is focusing on premium brands, luxury shopping, and franchising marquee international brands in India as the size and scope of the country’s e-commerce business grow rapidly.
The company is betting on the upcoming India launch of the Canadian premium athleisure brand Lululemon, expanding its luxury offerings, and introducing new categories such as supplements and other wellbeing products.
This comes at a time when India’s e-commerce sector, with major players such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Meesho, continues to battle for scale while offering deep discounts. Tata Cliq is positioning itself around affluent consumers, curated offerings and premium experiences.
Tata Cliq, which has been in business for ten years, is preparing to launch the first few stores of Lululemon in three months, chief executive Gopal Asthana told Mint. “We will open stores for them, we will do e-commerce and their D2C site, so we will be the only ones doing everything for them in this country. The brand is of a different stature altogether.”
Asthana compared the partnership with Tata Consumer’s joint venture with American coffee chain Starbucks, adding that the company is keen on similar partnerships that can bring international goods to Indian customers. Last year, the app launched French sportswear brand Decathlon.
Beyond premium fashion, Tata Cliq is also betting on luxury experiences to differentiate itself in an increasingly fragmented e-commerce market. The company recently hosted an online auction for watches priced upwards of ₹5 lakh, with bids reaching ₹64 lakh for a single timepiece, according to Asthana. Watches, handbags and fashion accessories make up a significant share of sales on the luxury platform, Asthana said, but did not offer details.
The platform exclusively retails the Swiss luxury watch retailer TimeVallée in India online, along with other leading brands, including Cartier, Tissot, and Rado.
Despite the investment in luxury and premium brands, Tata Cliq operates at a loss. Latest financials show that Tata Unistore Ltd, which is the subsidiary of the company, reported total revenues of ₹296.32 crore in FY25, up more than 13% year on year, but its total losses stood at ₹314.32 crore, down more than 20% from ₹391.63 crore.
Parent firm Tata Digital Private Ltd, which houses BigBasket, 1mg, and Croma, also reported losses of ₹4,610 crore in FY25, on consolidated annual revenues of ₹32,187.54 crore, per the company’s latest available financial statements.
Asthana declined to comment on profitability, but said the company was “not in a hurry” to grow. “We don’t want to burn money to get the numbers,” he said.
According to a May report by brokerage ICICI Securities, India’s e-commerce market is currently valued at around $70 billion and is expected to grow to $174-214 billion over the next three years, accounting for 13% of the country’s retail market.
However, Tata Cliq and its rival, Reliance Retail’s Ajio, remain relatively small in the e-commerce industry.
“Companies like Zudio, Myntra and other fast-fashion brands selling online are all vying for the e-commerce pie,” said Abhishek Pathak, lead analyst for IT services and internet at Motilal Oswal.
“The discounting can be so high on these platforms that it takes up to eight orders from a customer to break even on the cost of acquiring and serving that customer. This is why companies such as Nykaa Fashion, for example, are investing in curated catalogues with a lower number of SKUs [stock-keeping units], targeting a premium customer,” Pathak added.
Adding scale
Tata Group’s sister companies continue to play an important role in shaping Tata Cliq’s growth strategy. After launching a health and wellbeing category on its fashion app last year, the company recently partnered with group firm Tata 1mg to expand its wellness offerings.
“We are getting their entire might in wellness on the platform. We started very small about a month back, but we expect it to become very big. They are into this business and understand the relationships in the market with all the leading brands. If I had to develop those kinds of relationships, I might take a lot of time,” Asthana said.
Tata Cliq does not sell Zudio, Trent’s breakout Gen-Z success, fast fashion brand.