Super App may grow Westside reach by 10x, says Trent's Noel Tata

The Tata super app, due to be launched on April 7, will bring about a potential 10-fold increase in the number of customers for Westside, which is the group's retail store chain, Tata Trusts director Noel Tata has said.

Tata, 65, who is also the chairman of retail arm Trent and who recently became vice-chairman of Tata Steel, said inflationary challenges were real and the retail unit was diversifying its supply chain to offset rising prices.

"Westside (the brand name for Trent stores) currently has 7 million loyalty members, whereas the Tata super app expects to connect Westside to a base of 70 million Tata customers," said Tata.

Diffusing Impact of Inflation
Noel Tata added that the group's sponsorship of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) and launch of the super app will definitely create a buzz in the online space for brands such as Westside.

"Inflationary challenges are indeed real," Tata told ET in a virtual interaction. "Nevertheless, we are grappling with it in various ways - diversifying sourcing geographically, in terms of the number of partners, with a calibrated approach to price architecture, and as a portfolio and platform to diffuse impact."

Tata said consumer demand would recover if the economy returned to 8% growth rate. "The stated intent of the government is for the economy to return to an 8% GDP growth rate and on its own, this is sufficient to boost consumer demand to the benefit of the entire retail industry," he added.

Earlier this year, Tata was inducted as trustee on the board of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, a move widely seen as part of succession planning at the software-to-airlines conglomerate.