Tata Neu CTO Quits Within 4-Months Of ‘Super App’ Launch: What’s The Reason? Is Tata Neu A Failure?

Sauvik Banerjjee, founding member and chief technology officer (CTO) of Tata Neu, has resigned from the ecommerce venture.

His exit comes just four months after the Tata Group launched the hotly anticipated ‘super app’ in April after a marketing blitz around the IPL.

Stint with Tata

Banerjjee joined Tata Group in 2016 as CTO of Tata Cliq.

He then moved to Tata Digital in 2019 and has been part of the core team ever since.

Insiders said that he wants to relocate abroad for personal reasons.

The Tatas may replace Banerjjee with a TCS veteran but is also looking at external candidates.

Some executives at top startups have been approached.

Sales target missed

The latest development comes in the midst of a less than ideal working condition of the app with various tech glitches and underwhelming shopping experience.

It missed its monthly sales target of $200 million by about $50 million in the first month after its launch, recording gross sales of $120 Mn-$150 Mn.

Downloads and user activity on the app have also dropped as users continue to shop on the separate Bigbasket and 1mg apps.

Major complaints

The app’s users have complained about poor user experience.

For example, the only way you can buy something is within the individual apps.

Each page within the app takes a lot of time to load and sometimes it fails to do that and returns an error.

Aside from the user interface (UI)  it is also facing problems with integration of financial services on the platform.

Another major issue is the lack of a unified cart or orders page, with a user complaining that their orders are “hidden” inside each category instead of being listed in a single place.

Undeterred

The company has big ambitions for the app- it aspires to have 100-150 million NeuPass members in the next 2-3 years.

In order to pursue aggressive growth it is looking at options such as leveraging its supply chain capabilities for express deliveries, to consolidating data across brands to personalise the app, and adding Metaverse for commerce.

Despite failing to meet its internal target of $200 Mn gross sales in the first month, it has set an even larger target of achieving $2 Bn-$2.5 Bn in sales in the first year of Tata Neu’s operations. 

It is reportedly open to having non-Tata brands on the super app in areas where the Tata Group has no significant presence.