153-year-old Tata Group hopes to take on the digital future with a super app

Why the Indian conglomerate might succeed where many haven’t and will the proposed e-commerce rules play spoil sport

With its recent acquisitions in grocery delivery platform BigBasket, fitness start-up CultFit, and online pharmacy 1mg, India’s 153-year old Tata Group appears to be well on track to launch its “super app”.

What is a super app?

Think of a super app as a digital shopping mall, but with the potential for offering even more products and services. It’s an app that caters to all that a consumer might want: book flights, make payments, order groceries, buy event tickets, shop for clothes, call a cab, apply for loans, and the list goes on.

China’s WeChat, the ultimate example of a super app, lets you do all of these and more. In India, we now have many trying to replicate the WeChat model: Amazon, Paytm, Reliance Jio, PhonePe, and now Tata.

Why makes Tata unique?

The company first indicated its plan to launch a “super app” in August 2020 and said that the app will offer users a range of services offered by the Tata Group, including food and grocery ordering, fashion and…