The app, which completed a year on April 7, was given a new design as well as improved navigation and payment systems, resulting in its best growth phase on all counts, including revenue, said Pal, who was appointed Tata Digital CEO in 2019. He was with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) before that for more than 27 years in key leadership positions.
“The app had over one million seconds of on-screen visibility through on-ground branding and around 110 million campaign reach with 13 million installs and 75 million visits during the IPL,” Pal said in his first interview as Tata Digital CEO. “We have reached 75 million NeuPass members and 60 million cumulative installs. Almost 60% of our customers are repeat customers while multi-category customers have increased from less than 10% a year back to over 25%.”
Also read | Tata Group mulls injecting $2 billion into super-app Neu
Tata Digital, the wholly-owned ecommerce subsidiary of Tata Sons, is now working on offering a wider portfolio of products, including those that the Tata Group may not be present in, to meet consumer demands.
“End-to-end consumer experiences matter and that is a big roadmap for us,” he said. “Our omnichannel experience has to be the best in class because of our assets and consumer touchpoints. We are now working on a road map to widen our omnichannel platform and offer more consumer choices by adding new products and categories that the Tata universe may not have.”
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Immediately after the official launch last year, the company had to go back to the drawing board to address complaints about glitches, poor user experience and payment issues.“We worked during the last eight months on making the app experience best in class… and we expanded consumer offerings and launched multiple financial services,” Pal said. “Consumers have reacted positively to the new version with a rating of 4.2 and all the app parameters are currently at par with industry benchmarks. We… have drawn a strong roadmap towards innovating on customer experience.”
The app was initially launched with three broad categories–electronics, grocery and e-pharmacy. Air Asia and Indian Hotels then came on board, followed by Titan, Tanishq and Westside. On the financial services side, the Tata Neu HDFC card was launched in November with the loyalty programmes of Titan, Tanishq and Westside folded into the NeuPass. The app also allows United Payments Interface (UPI) transactions and bill payments besides offering loans and insurance.
“We are looking at widening offerings and expanding horizons to weave together similar products,” Pal said.
That could include niche categories such as adventure travel. It’s also looking at combining 1mg, fitness and insurance in a subscription model. That would provide the consumer health, insurance, fitness and medicines in one app.
“We have these assets which we stitch together for the consumer,” Pal said. “Take weddings for example—70-80% of wedding needs are taken care of under Tata brands Tanishq, Indian Hotels, flights (Air India, Vistara), apparel (Westside), which the super app stitches together as a one-stop solution.”
Tata Digital is keeping an eye on profitability as it considers future funding options.
“We are looking at profitable growth within a three-to-five-year period–revenue which is profitable is the focus,” he said. “We are continuously evaluating options for fund raising.”
Tata Digital is in talks with international luxury brands to be retailed directly through Tata Cliq, Pal said. It currently sources its requirements for Tata Cliq Luxury from the Reliance Group’s Major Brands. Pal scotched talk of inventory challenges in the category, since it competes directly with the Reliance Group’s luxury app, Ajio Luxe.
“There are no such issues and we have a very good relationship with Major Brands,” he said. “Tata Cliq is continuously looking at bringing in new brands and we are also reviewing our portfolio of brands. We have a fantastic cohort of luxury consumers through IHCL and Tanishq and we are now trying to also offer more choices for our luxury category, which is a major focus.”
Tata Digital’s FY22 loss widened to ₹3,051 crore from ₹536 crore in FY21. Total revenue from operations rose to ₹15,979 crore from ₹5,315 crore.
Is Tata Neu really a super app? Yes, said Pal.
“There is no particular definition of a super app,” he said. “If an app helps a consumer with UPI transactions, pays bills, buy electronics or grocery, it is a super app. If an app takes care of 50% of consumer needs and addresses daily needs, monthly needs or annual needs, it is a super app. We are now focused on widening consumer choices offered under this app.”
About its organisation culture having more of a TCS mindset rather than that of a startup, Pal said, “Tata Digital has a startup mindset but with a beautiful mix of a startup company and governance standards of the Tata Group.”
Tata Digital has built a strong execution team over the past two to three years that is focused on delivery.
“Being part of TCS has taught one to be resilient and to take risks–take calculated risks in a mindful way,” he said. “It has taught us long-term thinking. We are building a lean, agile organisation that looks at organic growth and repeat growth.”
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