Croma brings in big bucks for Tata Group

Croma, part of the $100-billion Tata Group's Infiniti Retail Ltd, is among the top five brand of products sold in its very own store. This is a big achievement for the fledgling electronics megastore as it competes with the like of LG, Samsung, Sony, Phillips and a host of domestic brands in the consumer electronics space.

Thirty per cent of air conditioners (ACs), more than 10 per cent of LED TVs, 15 to 20 per cent of small appliances - especially kitchen and personal care products - and an equal number of tablets sold at Croma are of its very own label.

This well thought out strategy of having own brands on the shelf is certainly paying rich dividends. Not only is the share of the in-house brand growing, but it is also bringing in better profit margins for the company, which is now gearing up for a greater push by expanding the Croma product basket.

Confirming this, Ajit Joshi, Managing Director and CEO at Mumbai-based Infiniti Retail Ltd, says: "With close to 10 per cent share of our top line, our in-house brands are doing extremely well, and we would like to introduce more innovative products across categories in the coming year."

Croma launched its own label products in 2008 with over 200 products in its portfolio that have an overall market share of over 25 per cent in select categories such as ACs, small appliances and accessories. Today, Croma sells over 6,000 products in the stores from five lead categories, namely home appliances, entertainment, IT products, digital imaging and communication.

In early April this year, Infiniti Retail opened its 101 Croma store and announced plans to open another 10 to 14 stores annually. In 2012/13, the company posted revenues of close to Rs 2,500 crore. It also made a first ever cash profits last year (2013). The company also has a tie up with Woolworths, an Australian retailer, for providing technical and strategic sourcing facilities through its global network.