Croma, a retail chain for consumer electronics and durables, has launched an online store, competing with rival Vijay Sales which also went beyond brick-and-mortar world.

Its online store called cromaretail.com is now on live in 319 cities across 24 states. Products offered include phones, computers, cameras, home appliances, gaming, entertainment, kitchen appliances and accessories.

Croma is owned by Infiniti Retail, a subsidiary of Tata Sons and Woolworths Australia.

R K Krishna Kumar, chairman of Infiniti Retail, said the launch of the of e-commerce venture is a natural progression towards delivering growth and trusted service to the users.

“What we took five years to achieve in the bricks and mortar model, we believe we will achieve that in online in one-and-a-half to two years due to growing internet penetration and changing buying habits,” said Ajit Joshi, CEO and MD of Infiniti Retail.

According to Joshi, Croma has partnered with global brands Apple, Samsung, Blackberry, LG, Sony and Intel to retail their products. The company is also working with Fedex and Diesel and finalising a deal with India Post for logistics.

Croma’s bricks-and-mortar stores now count 73 across a total of 600,000 sqft of retail space. Another 83,000 sqft will be added by the end of September.

India’s e-commerce is predicted to grow by 57 per cent between 2012 and 2016. This year, e-commerce is valued at Rs 5000 crore (US$1 billion).

GB