The Evolution of Super Apps

Introducing: The Super App

China's WeChat was arguably the first startup to effectively experiment with the concept of a Super App.

WeChat, which began as a chat software, has evolved into a commerce platform that allows its 1.25 billion monthly active users to do a range of chores. Money transfers, loan applications, and the search for (or divorce from!) a significant other are all available under one roof.

This is clearly a desirable market, and corporations in the United States and Europe have been following suit for some years.

Facebook implemented shopping capabilities in 2020 in order to encourage users to conduct business on the social media network rather than elsewhere.

In India and South America, WhatsApp is testing banking functions, and PayPal is working on merging payments, cryptocurrency, and commerce.

Snapchat, the pioneer of the Western Super App craze, created a slew of mini-apps for users to enjoy several years ago. Instead of only sending and receiving quick photos, users can also play games, communicate in a number of forms, and even buy movie tickets through the app. The underlying concept is consolidation: becoming one of the 30 apps that occupy prime real estate on a smartphone's home screen, and, even more optimistically, one of the nine apps that users launch every day. The competition for this market is tremendous, with over two million apps waiting to be downloaded in Apple's App Store.

Super Apps Continue to Evolve

All of the aforementioned firms' initial meteoric success may be attributed to their user-friendly interfaces and distinct, single-use functionality (connectivity, photo-sharing, payments).

Simply put: They’re utterly alluring in their simplicity.

In the world of technology, however, nothing stays the same. Beyond the need to adapt in a fast-paced industry, the motivation for these companies to expand on their original identities and become a digital shopping mall is clear: having access to even more consumer data related to transactional trends means being able to provide advertisers with more in-depth knowledge to create more targeted messaging. More data equals more money.

The underlying concept is consolidation: becoming one of the 30 apps that occupy prime real estate on a smartphone's home screen, and, even more optimistically, one of the nine apps that users launch every day.

"The Super App is here to stay, according to tech experts, with the potential to build the first $10 trillion firm."

Is the ability to file a tax return on the same platform where apple pies may be purchased, however, what customers really want? Putting aside the cognitive dissonance of various jobs, how difficult would it be to persuade users that a Super App is more handy (and trustworthy) than a single-task app? Will performing so many different things in one location cause monotony to become exhausting?

WeChat was in a unique position to avoid these difficulties because of its location. It served as a gateway to the internet and general connection in China, and it was released at a time when cellphone usage was at an all-time high. It makes sense for some businesses to follow suit.

PayPal's Super App, for example, is being created in a way that does not jeopardize the company's basic identity: it has always been a reliable FinTech player with the knowledge and resources to expand into new initiatives like crypto without alienating its customers.

How hard will it be to convince consumers that a Super App is more convenient (and trustworthy) than apps purposefully designed to do just one task? Even more, will conducting so many different tasks in one place create exhaustion out of monotony?

The Path Forward

Companies that bundle every service under the sun into one spot run the danger of confusing and alienating customers, and they may be better serving their own interests than their customers'.

Practical issues, such as cell phone storage and battery life, are also important. An overburdened app is more likely to load slowly, and keeping a user's time and attention in one spot necessitates a lightning-fast reaction time. According to a Deloitte study, a 0.1-second increase in load time can result in an increase of up to 8% in conversions.

We've already seen what happens when internet titans annoy authorities by flying too close to the sun: they get a front-row seat at a congressional hearing, where their companies are scrutinized for exerting too much power. But, more crucially, these businesses must consider how trustworthy the expansion of their core service will be to their existing and loyal customers. I wouldn't use a social networking platform to make a significant payment, any more than I would ask my hairdresser to act as a reference for a Business School application.

There are other, simpler solutions to the problems that these digital behemoths are attempting to solve, such as building Super Apps that are function/industry specialized or just eliminating low-to-no-use functions of their apps. But that sounds about as shrewd as constructing a shopping mall that exclusively sells t-shirts - where is the money in that?