Capital Calls: Tata’s BigBasket deal bags top super-app item

Tata Consumer Products

31/05/2021 03:46

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are their own.)
    MUMBAI, May 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Concise insights on
global finance.
 
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IN THE BAG. Ambitious digital startups typically burn oodles of
cash trying to win consumers. India’s storied Tata conglomerate
has a different problem. It has been looking to stitch together
its customer-facing offerings spanning tea and salt at Tata
Consumer Products  TACN.NS , luxurious Taj resorts at Indian
Hotels, electric vehicles at Tata Motors  TAMO.NS  and gold,
watches and spectacles at Titan  TITN.NS . The group’s purchase
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2NF1H4 of one of the country’s biggest online grocers
suggests how it plans to link everything into a super-app
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2H31UW. 
    Tata might have spent about $1 billion on BigBasket,
according to Indian media. The Alibaba-backed  BABA.N   9988.HK 
startup is potentially the most important feature in the group’s
yet to be launched all-in-one app that aims to replicate the
reach of Asian giants like Tencent-owned  0700.HK  WeChat or
Singapore’s Grab. Groceries remain the holy grail of many
e-commerce outfits because consumers purchase such items the
most frequently. Tata’s app will be further anchored by other
recent acquisitions including e-pharmacy 1MG. For now, the
Indian group has bagged a top item. 
    On Twitter http://twitter.com/breakingviews
    
    Earlier in Capital Calls:

    Klarna $50 bln value beats richly priced rivals  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2NF2PG
    Third Point activist flips script on Dan Loeb  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2NF2OY
    German fashion IPO is surprisingly reasonable  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2NF2CC
    Lenovo’s battery is running low  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2NF0B3
    Airbus opens the short-haul throttle  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2NE46B
 

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