Top deck rejig at Tata's Infiniti Retail

Tata Group's consumer electronics retail operations, Infiniti Retail Pvt Ltd (100% subsidiary of Tata Sons), which operates a chain of stores under the Croma banner, is undergoing a change in leadership roles.

Industry sources privy to the development told dna that Ajit Joshi, its first chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director and Deepshikha Surendran, who was heading marketing for the company, are moving out of their respective roles in the company. Sources said that both have either taken up or are set to take up strategic role with Tata Sons Ltd, the holding company of the Tata Group.

When contacted, an Infiniti Retail spokesperson confirmed the leadership changes but refrained from sharing details about their new roles within the Tata Group. Responding to dna queries, the spokesperson said, "Ajit Joshi, CEO and managing director, has expressed his desire to move on from his current role and explore new horizons. He (Joshi) is currently handling a strategic initiative at the Tata group centre, which, for commercial reasons, cannot be commented upon specifically at this point in time.

"Avijit Mitra, chief financial officer, is managing the affairs of the company in the interim, till a new CEO is appointed. Deepshikha's movement is a personal choice as she got an exciting opportunity within the group." While the company has already shortlisted/finalised a candidate for the head of marketing position at Infiniti Retail, details are being kept under wraps, and the company is likely to make it official soon.

Launched in October 2006, the chain has outlets across 16 major cities of India and sells over 6,000 products from five lead categories – home appliances, entertainment, IT products, digital imaging and communication. Currently in the ninth year of operations, Joshi was instrumental in expanding Croma and adding formats like Croma Zip stores and Croma Kiosks while also introducing own label by the name Croma Life Accessories.

The brand, according to company spokesperson, has seen a steady growth in various business metrics including footfall, average transaction size and overall revenue. In 2012, Joshi also championed Croma's foray into the online space with the launch of its e-commerce platform cromaretail.com.

However, the last couple of years saw consumer durable and IT (CDIT) buying slowly move online in a big way across emarketplace operators like Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal and eBay. Croma too took the plunge and entered into a strategic tie-up with Kunal Bahl, co-founder and CEO, Snapdeal.com last September to make the products available for purchase through its flagship brand store on the emarketplace.

Sharing the company's growth plans for the coming years, the spokesperson said, "Croma continues to lead the CDIT organised retail market in store throughput. In the immediate future, Croma will penetrate deeper into the top CDIT markets of India with its unique service delivery model that aspires to help customers buy and enjoy electronic gadgets more effectively."