Tata Group likely to come up with a super app by December: Report

As per news report, Tata Group is preparing for a super app play. The company is working to bring together the services of all Tata group companies under a super app that will go live by the end of this year.

“It will be a super app, a lot of apps in apps and so on . . . We have a very big opportunity,” a news daily quoted Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons.

The supper app will be full of offerings spanning categories in which Tatas have a presence. The app will also gradually include more services like healthcare, food and grocery ordering, insurance and financial services among others.  

While Tata Group’s aspirations in the super app direction is an exciting move, it has not made any dent in the world’s fledgeling e-commerce market.

Tata Group has two e-commerce portals, Tata Cliq that sells consumer electronics online via Tata Croma and StarQuik, an online grocery, dairy, meat and fruits and vegetable store which currently services Pune, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Super apps are a function of reach. While WhatsApp and Reliance Jio jointly have incredible reach in terms of users that suit the super app’s ecosystem, Tata Group has no such advantage. We aren’t sure about why Tata Group is making this play on building a super app without strengthening its existing e-commerce play or partnering a suitable player with muscular reach in the digital or social media ecosystem.