Following in the footsteps of Ratan Tata, who last month forayed into the e-commerce space with personal investments in Snapdeal and jewellery e-tailer Bluestone.com , the Tata Group plans to enter into the burgeoning e-commerce space with the online marketplace model, reports the Economic Times. 

The e-commerce initiative will be led by Tata Industries Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Sons that shepherds the group's entry into new businesses, and not by its existing retail units.

An undisclosed person was quoted in the Economic Times as saying, "Tata Industries incubates new businesses as they have done with Tata's entry into auto components and telecom ventures.Then such businesses are taken forward by their respective units." 

 A Tata Sons spokesperson told the Economic Times that the group is eyeing the country's e-commerce business but did not elaborate on their plans. 

Tata already operates an e-commerce site for its consumer electronics business Croma, but the marketplace model will allow any vendor to sell on the platform, similar to what Amazon India and Flipkart do. These e- commerce marketplaces make money by charging fee or commission from third- party merchants using their platform. 

According to the Economic Times report, Tata is modeling its business on Tmall.com, the Alibaba Group's marketplace. The Chinese company just made a record initial public offering in the US — and has been emulated domestically by Flipkart, Amazon India and Snapdeal. 

Tata reportedly plans to roll out its online marketplace by next year and will initially showcase the existing retail chain brands such as Westside, Croma and Star Bazaar. Tata is also working to rope in joint venture partner Zara, which otherwise sells online only through its own sites globally, to sell on the platform. 

Tata has already started the process of hiring people as well enrolling vendors for its marketplace.