Tata Group, the Indian conglomerate, is set to launch its “super app”, called TataNeu, on April 7, taking on the likes of US-based e-commerce major Amazon and Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms.
The super app is already available on Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store. However, the app is currently open only for Tata’s group employees and their friends and family.
According to a report by TechCrunch, the application has been tested by several thousand Tata employees over the last several quarters.
The launch will be accompanied by Tata Group’s aggressive marketing push, which is already live for the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 cricket tournament. It is already airing teaser advertisements for the platform during the IPL matches. Tata Group had replaced Chinese mobile phone maker Vivo as the title sponsor for IPL T20 for this year.
Tata’s super app will combine the group’s consumer-facing services along with its services from its recent acquisition of online grocer BigBasket and e-pharmacy platform 1Mg. The app will also feature services of the group’s brands, such as Taj Hotels, Croma, Tata Play, Westside, and Qmin, an online food delivery service.
The app will also allow users to buy tickets for the group’s three airline services, AirAsia India, Vistara and Air India.
As per a separate report by the Financial Express newspaper, the group will add services from brands like Starbucks, Titan, Tanishq and Cliq later.
The super app will also enable users to send people money and pay broadband, electricity, water and DTH TV bills besides securing loans.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited, the parent company of India’s 4G-only telco Jio, is reportedly “refurbishing” JioApp into a so-called super app to include multiple consumer offerings in addition to its e-grocery service.
Adani Enterprises is also developing its super app, which will bring all products and services of the conglomerate onto a single platform.
As per the Economic Times, Tata Group is currently in talks with several investors, including SoftBank, to raise capital for its tech platform.
A “Super App” is a marketplace of services and offerings by large companies. The app delivers services and offerings through in house technology and through third-party integrations.
According to analysts, the super app approach is being adopted to de-clutter the number of apps on a mobile phone.
TataNeu application, which has reportedly been riddled with multiple delays and buggy performance, will also have a rewards mechanism at the centre of its strategy to entice new users.
Tata Group will reportedly phase out loyalty offerings by BigBasket, 1mg and other group services and will replace them with “NeuCoins” as a reward, where one NeuCoin will be equivalent to one Indian rupee.
The app users will get rewarded every time they shop, book flights and hotels and more.
“Find everything from groceries, to gadgets, to getaways on Tata Neu. Pay instantly for any of your online and in-store purchases, utility bills and more, using Tata Pay,” according to Tata Group.
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