The newly-launched Tata Neu app, which houses major Tata Group brands from Tata Croma to BigBasket, will be open to brands outside of the group, executive Chairman N Chandrasekaran indicated while addressing a press conference to mark the launch of the app.
“Our aim is to ensure that Neu becomes a super app which simplifies the life of every consumer from a product, services and financial needs point of view. And for that the offerings may come from the Tata table or it may come from outside,” he added.
Tata Digital had launched the much-awaited Neu app last week. The app houses most Tata brands except for Vistara, Air India, Titan, Tanishq, Tata Motors, which are expected to join the platform soon.
The press conference also saw attendance of Pratik Pal, CEO, Tata Digital and president Mukesh Bansal, the founder of Cultfit and Myntra besides chief of various Tata Group brands.
Discussing the way ahead for the app, Pal said that the company will launch a new category every quarter based on the consumer demand.
“We have a roadmap towards building new categories and in that journey if we need to onboard new brand, we will do that,” he added.
The company, according to its top managment, would also be open to acquisition route to onboard other brands on the app.
"BigBasket and 1MG have become a part of the platform through acquisitions and we are open to inorganic route going ahead too," Mukesh Bansal told Moneycontrol.
Bansal joined Tata Digital in an executive role as a president soon after the wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons invested $75 million in Curefit last year.
The app, according to the company's top management, has witnessed a pheonomenal response and has been downloaded 2.2 million times.
"We are pleasantly surprised by the number of people that are shopping on our app. People are shopping on our app across the country," said Bansal.
Several users, however, have complained about facing glitches while using the app and have given a single star rating to the app on Play Store. Tata Digital's management stressed during the briefing that this is the first version of the app and the user experience will improve going ahead.
"We have launched the first version of a starting point and our brands are committed together in it with a value proposition, which is globally innovative and slightly progressive of Neu Coins," said Chandrasekaran.
"The Neu Pass is not only a loyalty program but also has an integrated financial credit line and is similar to instant loans, hence, the consumption becomes far simpler," he added.
Neu Pass is the loyalty program introduced by Tata Digital on Tata Neu. Under the program, the users amass coins for every transaction conducted on the app. These coins then can be used for future transactions on Neu. For instance, coins earned while buying groceries from BigBasket could be used to buy airline tickets from AirAsia. The feature, management said, was the "lure" that would bring users to its app.
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