Tata Launches Battle Against Amazon, Flipkart: Buys Majority Stake In Big Basket, Cult.Fit Next?

A majority stake in the Alibaba-backed online grocery seller BigBasket (Supermarket Grocery Supplies Private Limited) has been acquired by Tata Digital, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.

Due to the pandemic and the lockdown that followed, E-grocery has been one of the fastest growing segments in the consumer e-commerce space as a big shift has been observed in the space, especially for food and groceries.

What Does Majority Stake In BigBasket Mean For Tata Group?

Hitherto, Amazon, Flipkart, JioMart and SoftBank-backed Grofers have been dominating the e-commerce space in the country, and this move by Tata will directly place Tata in race with the other players.

The CEO of Tata Digital, Pratik Pal said that since Bigbasket is India’s largest e-grocery player and grocery is one of the largest components of an individual’s consumption basket in India, this acquisition fits perfectly well the vision of the  group, i.e. to create a large consumer digital ecosystem is created and hence welcomed BigBasket as a part of the Tata Digital.

The online grocery delivery platform BigBasket is run by Supermarket Grocery Supplies Private (SGS). Tata Digital’s offer of acquiring up to 64.3 per cent stake in SGS was approved by The Competition Commission of India.

More About BigBasket

Founded in Bangalore in the year 2011, it has a presence in 25 cities across the country.

A super app is to be launched by Tata Digital in financial year 2022. This app shall provide a single-point access to a variety of Tata consumer businesses like :

• Qmin (a food delivery platform)
• Tata CLiq (lifestyle online shopping site)
• Croma (an electronics store)

Is Cure.fit Next?

Also, Tata digital business is planning to bring on board Curefit founder Mukesh Bansal with a leadership role. Ankit Nagori, a senior executive from Flipkart alongwith Mukesh Bansal cofounded Curefir.

Bansal, co-founder of fashion retailer Myntra, has been Curefit CEO for five years.

It offers gyms as well as a bouquet of services.

These services are as follows :

• Online therapy under mind.fit
• Consultation with a dietician or lab tests at home through care.fit
• Eat.fit provides access to healthy food from restaurants.

Cure.fit will sit well with Tata Group’s plan for a bigger digital play and its ambitious super app.