Tata Neu- A Tata universe that offers almost everything

Are you bored of toggling from one app to other for buying products or availing services? Well, India’s value-based corporation is coming again to help its people by bringing a single app fulfilling all your needs in one place.

Today, disruption is emerging in the digital world. This disruption is the advent of the super app. This single mobile application not only provides basic services like chat and payments but also includes plenty of third-party mini-apps for e-commerce, food delivery, and healthcare.

Tata Neu is one such app that integrates an array of Tata Group’s services under one umbrella.

Tata is going to link many of its established and recently acquired consumer services as the salt-to-software giant attempts to go head-to-head with competitors, including Jio Platforms and Amazon. Tata Group's super app offers consumers a wide range of services — food and grocery ordering, fashion and lifestyle, consumer electronics and consumer durables, insurance, and financial services, education, healthcare, and bill payments.

So what's coming in with Tata Neu super app!

There's a whole host of Tata services on this app, including Croma to buy electronics, Taj Hotels for hotels, Big Basket for online grocery, 1mg for Pharmacy, AirAsia India for flight ticket booking, manage your satellite TV via Tata Play Ltd (TataSky) or buy luxury and beauty products from Tata CLiQ. It even offers personal loans, short-term credit, and insurance, along with bill payments for all your bills in one shot. And a multi-category loyalty program that will work across the categories

Tata plans to lure people in by offering them "NeuCoins" as a reward where one NeuCoin is equal to Re1, which is expected to be the largest reward program of the 155-year-old giant. Additionally, it enables users to transmit money and pay bills for internet, energy, water, and satellite television, as well as obtain loans.

With the addition of Super App, our whole way of life will revolutionize, from payments to shopping. One software that can give so many different features will simplify our job and save up space on our phones.

How does it work?

It is a platform-based approach to product scaling and creates space for integration. This super-app includes many applications inside it. It takes the customer to the third-party application as per their requirement.

Competitors!

In India, Amazon, Flipkart, and Reliance are leading the battle for Super Apps. Paytm had already announced its foray into the market with the launch of WealthBasket on the Paytm Money app. Additionally, Adani Group's Adani Digital Labs is in the process of developing its super application.

Investment!

The Tatas have invested Rs 5,025 crore in Tata Digital, their e-commerce platform, to fulfill its super app ambitions. It has a GMV(Gross Merchandise Value) target of $10 billion for the fiscal year 2022-23.

How will it impact the Startups?

The proposed super-app will not only pit Tata against digital business conglomerates but will also affect leading startups.

Super applications will eventually concentrate demand while diversifying their service offerings. They will also be able to reduce unit costs and pass some of that savings forward to consumers via reduced pricing. Increased services and cheaper pricing, along with improved customer experience and convenience, may be seen as limiting the ability of online micro, small, and medium-sized firms (MSMEs) and early-stage startups to develop and survive.

The super apps will increase the number of projects and competition for startups. Also, in terms of resources, startups will lack behind them.

The significant impact will be on startups in the hospitality industry like OYO, trivago, Yatra, as customers will prefer to book a hotel and flight tickets together. It will also impact pharma, and grocery delivery apps like Grofers, Netmeds as a customer would generally order daily use items together. Also, it will be convenient for them to pay from the same app where they are availing services. Tata Neu customers will use their payment platform, which will impact the startups like Paytm, Bharatpe and Phonepe in the financial industry. This super app will not significantly impact startups in the health & beauty industry and the food industry. For food, customers are generally impatient while ordering, and when one can get delivery in 10 minutes, they may not like to make an order through any super app which will take them to a different app.

The success mantra for the startups to survive could be to develop sustainable long-term business partnerships or to create compelling value propositions for partners and customers. They should need to work on offering a more convenient and efficient way to perform routine tasks.

In an almost entirely digital world, Super Apps are unquestionably the future. The Tata Group's introduction of Tata Neu to the market would bring revolution in the industry.

But let's see how successfully it unites the brands it acquired and how will the startups make a room for themselves in the market.

Credits: Sakshi Shukla