Gopal Asthana, Chief Executive Officer, Tata CLiQ spoke at length to Storyboard18 on how competition has thickened in the phygital space. He discussed the strategic partnership of Tata CLiQ with design house Good Earth, and his take on celebrity endorsements and influencer marketing.
Edited excerpts
Tata CLiQ was launched as a phygital platform. How has the competition thickened over a period in this space? Could you name some of your competitors?
The whole competitive scenario is being fuelled by customer preferences which evolve every morning. The speed of change of consumer preferences is so high and to add to it, there is so much technological advancement that is happening at a constant speed, which is needed. There’s a lot of strategic adaptation which is needed for the players here.
So, I think over a period of the last six to seven years, a lot of competition has come up. But each one of them, perhaps, is trying to deal with the overall consumer preferences that are changing. And, we do recognise that it’s very important to stay ahead of the curve.
So, we are actively implementing a lot of things to ensure that we continue to be there within the consumers mind. Being an omni-channel and multi category retailer, we have a lot to offer to the customer. We always try to be in the consumer buy basket across various lifestyles at various points of their life, in their family for various age groups.
The cornerstone of Tata CLiQ’s marketing approach is the ‘magical shopping experience’. For our luxury vertical, Tata CLiQ Luxury, it embraces the brand philosophy of Slow Commerce that guides the marketing strategy at every consumer touchpoint. Our beauty vertical, Tata CLiQ Palette, India’s beauty matchmaker, recognises that everyone’s beauty journey is different. It aims to enable consumers to find their beauty match by offering a personalized experience with the help of technology.
We just say that the customer is not just reduced to deals, but is also trying to look forward to a lot of other things which are like new fashion products or new launches. Our philosophy is not to be discount forward but remain fashion forward. And one thing we talk about a lot is curation.
While one is kind of competing with the physical environment, giving customers the opportunity to touch and feel the products, it cannot be done in the online environment. With the content, we’re trying to bring in a lot of AI into our approach towards how we manage the customer journey.
I’ll also say that customer service has become the most important part all over. So for us, customer excellence is one of the KRAs (Key Result Areas) for every senior management in the team. Whether you are directly associated with the customer or not, we believe that long term loyalty of the customer is very important. And therefore, customer excellence remains the number one KRA in Tata CLiQ.
Could you also touch upon the end of season sale and how the outcome has been? What are the marketing and advertising strategies in place to stay ahead of the Flipkart and Amazon sale festivals?
We have three different apps. We do get into sales and they come on different dates. Generally, there is a sale on almost everything and goes up to 85 percent off also. Apparel and footwear generally do extremely well during this sale.
The EOSS on Tata CLiQ, India’s leading e-commerce platform, started on December 07 and The Christmas Sale on Tata CLiQ Palette began on December 14. And this is how physical retail (sale) also works, goes on for about two to two-and-a-half months. But on the e-commerce platform, we don’t go for that long.
The way our sales events are planned, they’re coinciding with consumer demands. There is a CLiQ-CLiQ sale that happens during the summer month. It is our anniversary sale. There is also a lot of demand for wedding purchases during this period. There is a 10/10 sale, which is again during the festive wedding season. Then there is a Black Friday sale in November. Then, there is ESS (end of season sale) in December. So, these are some of the biggest events for us and we try to bring a lot of attractive offers to the customers in general.
Our customer visits really go up by some numbers which are very high. The overall offtake also increases and this is also the time when people try some new stuff. So, most brands will launch the new season during the sale because one gets the highest (number of) customers with it. Sometimes, people in their basket not only take discounted products but also pick up one or two new products because they just want to be the first ones to have those products.
In general, marketing sale events are very carefully planned to get the consumer’s attention. It is a very cluttered market and we use a lot of mediums, primarily a digital medium to reach out to our customers. Plus, we bank a lot upon the creative marketing philosophy. We tried to improve the platform’s visibility across all the digital channels. We use lots of AI again in social media and content and creatives just to give customers a much better experience.
How have consumer preferences evolved? And what have been the consumer trends for this year? What are your predictions for 2024?
One is the convergence of offline and online shopping. Consumers are no longer buying only from offline or online. So, there are a lot of stories of customers who actually either see the product online and buy the product offline. Or see them offline and buy online depending upon their preferred way of shopping.
It is very important for us to give a uniform shopping experience to the customer. The other thing is consumer trends. It’s a very conscious consumption. They have started prioritising quality over quantity.
So, they’re looking forward to buying products from brands which are socially, environmentally and ethically conscious. If you take beauty, one of the important trends is that the gap between beauty and wellness is kind of blurring.
People try to see that the creams they’re using or any other beauty product they’re using, is also contributing to wellness. Wellness has become a big belief for customers and it is becoming bigger and bigger.
Diversity and inclusivity are big in beauty and now also in fashion. It’s very important to see the consumer from that lens. Then, there is also a lot of involvement in social media. So consumers are getting into social media in a big way and the influencers and creators out there are creating a lot of pages for them.
Most of the brands are now trying to take advantage of this kind of marketing where consumers are clearly moving towards social media. They’re also trying to gain some kind of understanding from customers on their decision regarding what they want to buy, is it getting endorsed.
One is not able to meet many people offline, but online, one is able to see many endorsements and it is very clear whether the choices cover a broader audience. Personalisation, I think, is a keyword. Consumers just want to get a personalised experience which will be the key to success for many retailers out there. One of the biggest consumer trends we have seen on Tata CLiQ luxury is the adoption of watches.
With luxury watches which are priced at two lakh plus, we have seen a lot of customers showing interest. We go from Rs 2 lakh to somewhere around Rs 35-40 lakh, and we’re quite happy with the number that we are selling, which is beyond our expectations.
For a Rs 5,00,000 watch, what we try to do is that we try to create a lot of content in such a way that customers get answers for all their questions about the product. Plus, our pre or post sales experience is something which we really worked upon.
So these are the things where we see consumer preferences being important.
In terms of trends for the year, there’ll be a lot of value beyond transaction. There have been a lot of incidences of climate change issues, recession and inflation in some places.
We have to see that we have been always there to alleviate the concerns of customers in their trying times, build relationships with them emotionally and also transact with them and not just transact in terms of money.
So, that’s a very important trend that we see. Humanising the brand, building communities and storytelling are the things which will become big, and user generated content is going to play a big role.
As one goes into social media, that’s the only way to cultivate a very lasting and loyal kind of customer. I think communities which are getting made on social media are becoming very powerful.
So, one has to be very careful on how we are entertaining these communities because they’re very close knit and one good thing being said about you can be heard by the world.
Sustainability is a key word. Gen Z and Millennials are very concerned about sustainability, and about the environment. We really want to give whatever we can to sustain the environment because they have started understanding the fact that it has reached a very critical situation.
We also see a lot of AI in digitalisation. So, we use a lot of AI within Tata CLiQ for creativity or for sometimes the customer service or overall imagery, content, transactions and so on.
In sum total, AI led digitisation, sustainability, humanising the brand and building communities are going to be big for the next 12-15 months. As one moves into the new year, these are going to be big and people may also be keenly watching what is happening on the international stage.
Could you also explain the strategic partnership between Tata CLIQ luxury and Good Earth and how both the brands champion sustainability and where do you think this partnership will benefit the target audience of Tata CLIQ luxury?
As an omnichannel platform, we are building Tata CLiQ Luxury as a luxury lifestyle destination for shoppers, one that caters to their diverse lifestyles, interests, and passions apart from just their wardrobe. As the curator of mindful luxury, the platform offers a curated range of brands across a wide range of categories, and the overall strategy will continue to focus on bringing in new brands, assortments, and categories that enhance the consumer’s lifestyle. Tata CLiQ Luxury has established itself as the leader in the home category under the affordable luxury to luxury segment.
The home category has almost 350+ brands and some of them have grown and performed very well in the last six months to nine months period. In our effort to continue to bolster the existing luxury home portfolio and drive further growth, Tata CLiQ Luxury exclusively partnered with Good Earth, India’s leading design house, to launch an online store on the platform. They are the leading design house and we just entered into the partnership about three to four months back.
Good Earth’s brand philosophy is rooted in artisanal luxury and caters to a modern lifestyle. That is reflected in how the brand is sustaining traditions and livelihoods across the country and the overall planet.
Most of their products are very deep rooted in India’s overall cultural traditions. They encourage quality craftsmanship. They’re also helping revive lost Indian traditions that are kind of beneficial to the overall environment and society. So that’s what the Good Earth stands for.
The Good Earth online store on the platform offers easy access to an exquisite selection of dinnerware products, including dinnerware, cutlery, serving ware, table linen, and more. The store invites consumers to discover he story behind each product.
Tata CLiQ Luxury is also trying to play its role in preserving and rejuvenating the environment. So other than all the efforts that we are taking, one of the important things is our policy of circular packaging.
It ensures that every aspect of packaging is sustainable. We also have come out with a programme where customers can actually return their high quality black box which we give with the delivery. We pick up that box, do a quality check and we reuse that. We refurbish it where it is needed. So, there is no waste.
What is your take on celebrity endorsements? How has it enhanced the brand image and value of Tata CliQ? Could you explain with examples?
I’m sure all of us are on Instagram and we see a lot of content getting created by influencers of different kinds. There are different ways to reach customers.
If you really want to amplify and you want to reach the mass, I think celebrity endorsements are one of the best ways. You create a strong affinity but it doesn’t happen overnight and it’s still limited in terms of how it is involved.
In the case of celebrity endorsements, the moment you know a customer is able to see the overall connection, you clearly become one of the preferred brands for the customer. So, when you associate your brand with a celebrity, you also get a lot of credibility and it all depends on how credible the celebrities are. Celebrities can influence the purchase decision of customers. They also bring preference in the consumers’ minds.
It’s very important to associate with celebrities. There has to be some kind of connection because people will connect the celebrity and the brand, the truthfulness and the honesty.
So, for Tata CLiQ Palette, we onboarded a brand ambassador who resonated with our target audience, was living our values and then we found Kriti Sanon who was herself a big skincare enthusiast.
As a part of our beauty matchmaker campaign, which we use for the beauty customer connect, we unveiled a series of videos featuring her. This has really worked for us. She has also got a fantastic following as a celebrity and stands tall for her values. So celebrities definitely help.
How crucial is influencer marketing for Tata CLiQ and could you provide examples?
At Tata CLiQ, we are focusing on leveraging nano influencers to ensure we are able to drive conversation for each occasion and relevant fashion moments. Nano influencers allow us to communicate with highly engaged audiences, and we leverage their authentic content for higher reach through media spends while being cost-effective. For sale events, we work with bigger creators for reach and sale awareness as well.
This festive season, we explored regional creator partnerships with five to seven creators from the East, Northeast, and Calcutta. It helped us showcase our strength of festive assortment and drive customer relevance through campaigns, brand launches, new collection launches, and more. On Tata CLiQ Palette, we also worked with a renowned creator like Masoom Minawala and are continuing to work with macro and nano creators to drive visibility for sale events and be part of trending beauty conversations. Influencers have also been part of amplifying our retail store launches. Overall, creator marketing is going to be a focus area for all three platforms.