TCS' AI solution to power mobile checkout at 500-plus Croma stores

India’s largest IT services company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), on Monday announced the transition of large format retail brand Croma’s commerce operations to a cloud model. Croma, specialising in consumer electronics and durables, is operated by Infiniti Retail, a subsidiary of Tata Digital. TCS leveraged its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven, unified composable platform, TCS OmniStore, to enable in-store mobile checkout across all Croma outlets. This shift has resulted in increased sales and customer footfall for Croma while reducing the checkout time for shoppers.

This transformation allows convenient mobile checkout anywhere in-store and ensures a consistent shopping experience across both the stores and online channels. With over 500 stores across 160-plus major cities, Croma offers more than 22,000 products across 550 brands. Its expanded digital partnership with TCS, which began in 2019, aims to deliver a unified shopping experience while solidifying Croma’s position as a leader in the competitive retail industry.

Shibashish Roy, Deputy CEO of Croma, said, “Many of today’s shoppers want to learn and shortlist products online so when they arrive at the store, they can select the right items, check out, and be on their way out. Crafting a seamless, delightful omnichannel journey is, therefore, imperative for us, and OmniStore is key to enabling it.”

The microservices-based architecture of TCS OmniStore offers the scalability and flexibility needed for Croma to continually innovate and simplify every aspect of the shopping journey, from purchasing to servicing.

The architecture allows Croma to offer modern commerce experiences with capabilities such as click-and-collect, scan-and-go, universal cart, and self-checkout, along with dynamic promotion management. Furthermore, Croma stores now offer over 80 payment options, including wallets, cards, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and loans.

The new cloud-based checkout model with a lean store footprint eliminates the need for traditional specialised onsite hardware and facilitates quicker billing setups, which is crucial as Croma looks to rapidly expand its store footprint. The solution has enabled Croma to optimise 83% of bill desk space and offers faster checkout with intuitive user experiences that require minimal training for store associates.

Krishnan Ramanujam, President of the Consumer Business Group at TCS, stated that TCS will serve as a technology and knowledge partner to Croma, jointly creating a unique and futuristic commerce journey with a best-in-class customer experience at every touch point.