RISE OF THE SUPER APP
Renu Chaturvedi
Email: renu_chaturvedi@isb.edu
ISB Institute of Data Science, Hyderabad, India
China’s WeChat started as a messaging app in 2011 and later escalated its services to become a Super App. There are approximately three million mini-apps on Wechat and about 1 million on Alipay, the second most popular super App in China.
https://www.theverge.com/22738395/social-media-super-app-facebook-wechat-shopping
Unlike in the rest of Asia, where they are a rage (Singapore’s Grab, Indonesia’s GoTo, Zoto from Vietnam, and Kakao from South Korea — the more notable ones), in India, Super Apps are still in their nascent stage. Paytm and Phone Pe from Fintech were the earliest super apps in India. The latest to enter the fray is Tata Neu from the Tata Group.
What brought about the rise of Super Apps?
The exponential growth of affordable smartphones, smartphones with higher memory that hold more apps, low data costs that encourage more screen time, and more interactive phones for better engagement have catalysed the rapid rise of Super apps.
What’s the hoopla?
Having the potential to create the first $10 trillion company, the Super App is here to stay.
What is it?
Super Apps are typically launched by companies that offer more than one product or service. The Super App allows products/ services both in-house and third-party to be offered under one umbrella. Nations become more Super App-ready if smartphone adoption and savviness increase. For deeper entrenchment of Super Apps, it should complement the local needs of the customer base.
How does it work?
The greatest asset of Super Apps is the BIG DATA. Transactional data with companies obtained from an existing customer base, social media, and database of products/ services offered means more in-depth knowledge for targeted advertising/ messaging and improved operational efficiencies.
https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/tr/tr/pdf/super-app.pdf
Companies can plan what products to offer, at what time, etc. Super Apps use a platform approach to scale their products. Super Apps allow for a better understanding of customer needs and can offer better suggestions and solutions.
How does it work for the Consumers?
One-stop shop for consumer needs.
More convenient and seamless connectivity to mini- apps in the ecosystem.
Bundling mini- app into one Super App helps consumers better manage apps safely.
What is in for the Super App provider?
Improve operational processes.
Reduced re-acquisition costs by retaining users from other platforms.
Onboarding new users for different services is simpler. The customer’s KYC is synced from his financial/ social profiles.
https://www.strategyand.pwc.com/tr/tr/pdf/super-app.pdf
What are a few challenges of the Super App?
Data Security Hacks.
Potential to exhaust the customer because of monotony.
Integrating multiple digital experiences in one comprehensive Super App.
The perceived threat of consumer behavior manipulation by monopolistic practices.
Mixes and matches seemingly unrelated products and offers them on one application. E.g., WeChat, Alipay.
#wechat #alibaba #tataneu #superapps #futureofretail #Mikelazaridis #gojek #paytm #rappi #meituan #goto #grab #kakao #zoto #alipay
