Tata Neu: How the Tatas plan to keep you glued into its digital universe

After building its universe over a century through its continuous expansion into diverse sectors - from steel and construction to software and consumer goods - the country’s leading business conglomerate, the Tata Group has been spreading its wings in the consumer space for the past few years. And its latest bet, the super app - Tata Neu - is just what the behemoth has placed at the forefront of its plan to keep the Indian consumers glued inside its universe.

The super app that is set to go live for the masses today, has a bouquet of goods and services on offer. While the concept of an aggregator app that offers consumers all key products and services is not new, what makes Neu stand out is the gameplay behind it. Unlike other aggregator apps, at Tata Neu every service comes from Tata Group’s stable. From online grocery (BigBasket), electronics (Croma), pharmacy (1mg) and e-commerce marketplace (Tata Cliq) to hotels (The Indian Hotels Company) and flights (Air India, Vistara and AirAsia) - its services are aimed at keeping the consumer inside the group’s products and offerings. And to make purchase experience smoother, it has also launched a payments service called Tata Pay UPI.

Further, with the 154-year-old Mumbai-headquartered diversified conglomerate’s growing influence in the consumer goods, retail and airlines markets in recent years, the app has been designed to further cross sell its offerings and grow the virtual footfall at areas that need more attention.

According to Ankur Bisen, senior partner & head - consumer, food and retail at Technopack Advisors, the super app is expected to play an important role in Tatas' consumer facing business plan.

"It is a one-of-a-kind app that has diverse set of offerings. They have already put in a lot of effort and filled the gaps in their consumer business over the past few years. All their offerings are backed by reputed brands. So, with the Neu app Tatas have already got a headstart here," he said.

In fact, the emergence of Tata Neu has a history. Over the past decade, Tata Group has slowly spread its tentacles in areas that it had not been present ever since it was founded in 1868. The group, with yearly revenue surpassing $100 billion (or over Rs 760,000 crore), has forayed into fast growing sectors such as online pharmacy and online grocery through acquisitions -- like its acquisition of online pharmacy portal 1mg -- while the conglomerate re-entered airlines market through a series of launches (Vistara) and acquisitions (AirAsia and Air India).

Moreover, while the group has been present in the passenger vehicles market for years, of late its focus on the segment has grown significantly as well and its market positioning has improved to the third place - behind Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor India.

Also, in a bid to augment its plans in the consumer goods sector, Tatas have reorganised their FMCG business under one roof - Tata Consumer Products - that was otherwise fragmented under several unrelated entities like Tata Global Beverages and Tata Chemicals, among others.

The launch of a super app like Neu is only a step forward towards its plan to further expand the share of consumer businesses into its portfolio that has been majorly dependent on B2B sectors till late-2010s. According to Noel Tata, member of the Tata Sons board, the group is already eyeing the beauty and personal care space, apart from growing other key consumer goods categories, like fashion and apparel. The Tata Neu super app also has potential to grow consumer traffic at its Westside fashion and apparels business by manifold.

According to Bisen, while Neu is already beginning its journey with a bunch of major brands and/or mobile apps, its full potential is yet to unfold. More brands and offerings are in the pipeline that would further expand its horizon.

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