The country will get its first super app on Thursday with the launch of Tata Digital’s latest app Tata Neu. The one-stop app will offer a slew of e-commerce categories including groceries, electronics, fashion, hotels, flights, food, digital content and even medical diagnostics.
Tata Digital had been on an acquisition spree for over a year, shopping for some of the biggest players across categories including BigBasket in groceries, 1mg for e-pharmacy and tests, Curefit for health and fitness; apart from its in-house brands like IHCL Hotels, Qmin for food, Tata CliQ and Westside for fashion and lifestyle and Air Asia for flights.
Though, as per the app’s description on Google Play, Curefit is yet to be listed under the super app.
The app introduces Tata Pay, an integrated payment service which could be used for online and in-store purchases, utility bills and more. The consumer will be able to track pending bills like electricity, mobile, DTH, broadband bills, recharges and others. Consumers will also be able to scan QR codes and send money to their known ones.
NeuCoin
Apart from discounts within categories, one of the main attractions of the super app will be the rewards programme through ‘NeuCoins’ which can be redeemed for an equal amount of INR.
“Earn NeuCoins every time you make a purchase, which can be redeemed for an equal amount of INR the next time you shop (1 NeuCoin = ₹1). This guarantees you unlimited freedom to earn anywhere, spend everywhere and maximise your savings,” the app description on Google Play said.
The app will also have a digital magazine. It added, “Read all about the latest trends in fashion, tech, travel, and food in our digital magazine – Stories. Make payments, manage your finances, plan your next holiday, or perhaps just your next meal – there’s lots to explore and experience in the world of Tata Neu.”
Brand equity
Ankur Bisen, Senior Partner and Head of Consumer & Retail, Technopak Advisors, told BusinessLine: “A lot depends on how it will get rolled out, but it’s only the likes of Tata Group which will be able to pull out a super app in India. It is not a start-up thing that can be incubated. The super app needs to aggregate a lot of consumption across categories from both consumers and merchants. They will also have to create enough stickiness for the consumer to come back, that requires scale, brand equity in the consumer’s mind and a certain threshold of reach in the market.
“Tata across its various consumer businesses, touchpoints and the legacy, we are confident they will be able to do it. This is almost like building a Lego house, putting all the picks in place. I will be interested to know how the app integrates all of this and the categories they are going to focus on to drive success.”
He added, “In the long run, it’s not as if hundreds of super apps will be there. Every Tata equivalent will have different starting points. While Tata had a starting point with legacy, scaled and diverse businesses — some of them are market leaders in their categories. Now, Reliance can start with telecommunications, Adani might make it infra led. Having said that, it is going to be a Big Boys’ club in the end.”
Published on
April 06, 2022
