Tata CLiQ ropes in Vikas Purohit as COO

Vikas Purohit has joined the Tata Group’s e-commerce marketplace Tata CLiQ as chief operating officer. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Purohit will spearhead its commercial and seller management functions. He has been with Amazon India, Paytm, Tommy Hilfiger, Reliance Brands and Madura Garments.

Tata CLiQ sells products across categories such as apparel, footwear and electronics. It plans to add more categories and brands. The portal was launched in May 2016. 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.

The venture seeks to cash in on rising purchasing power in a market dominated by deep-pocketed international retailers and startups backed by global tech investors. The move is in line with a second phase in Indian e-commerce development, with the some of the country's oldest and largest corporations entering an industry established in the last five years by startups.

The website was developed over a year-and-a-half at a cost of several hundred million dollars to be a marketplace for in-house and partner companies to sell apparel and electronics. It’s moving toward scaling up its business and strengthening its footprint in the Indian e-commerce space.