Recently, there has been an increase in buzz around the Tata Group’s plans to amalgamate its consumer offerings into an inclusive super app.
Understanding Super Apps
A super app functions as an omnichannel digital platform, which essentially means a single platform created by a company for offering diverse services and products. An epitome of a super app is China’s WeChat. Initiated as a messaging app, it gradually included payments, shopping, food ordering, and cab services, thus transforming into a super app. The best physical world correlation of a super app would be a shopping mall, housing numerous brands and shops from various business verticals.
Emergence of Super Apps
The concept of a super app initially emerged in China and Southeast Asia, where internet firms like WeChat, Go-Jek, and Grab turned their applications into all-inclusive feature apps. These companies exploited the customer traffic on their platforms that came for social media, enhancing their revenue by offering additional services. However, a distinct approach is observed in West Asia. Here, traditional business corporations having a vast portfolio in areas like shopping malls, groceries, and entertainment are developing digital assets, observing high customer footfall and frequent repeat purchases.
The Benefits of Super Apps for Businesses
Super apps provide several benefits for businesses. They ensure higher revenue realization by consolidating services in one place. They also offer access to a massive amount of consumer data, which can be utilized to study user behaviour. Super apps also provide market access, enabling domestic and foreign retailers to enter the market easily.
Consumer Advantage with Super Apps
For consumers, super apps provide convenience by shortening the path to the desired action. They offer a variety of services under one roof, allowing for a uniform and individual user experience. Plus, they save phone memory as compared to multiple apps.
Concerns Surrounding Super Apps
However, super apps also raise certain concerns. There’s a possibility of monopoly, with conglomerates trying to keep a customer within their ecosystem for most services they might require. The data collected by the app could be used to train AI machines, which could be misused. Super apps also pose risks to financial systems as they disintermediate banks from their customers. Regulations for such apps need to be in place to ensure stability. Other issues include device and language compatibility and privacy concerns, especially when third-party service providers are involved.
Indian Market and Super Apps
Indian companies are now looking to build super apps due to a variety of reasons. A large section of the population is smartphone-first instead of desktop-first, with India’s smartphone base estimated around 450 million in 2020, expected to reach 820 million in the next two years. Additionally, the ecosystem of apps localized for Indian needs is yet to grow fully. Examples of Indian super apps include the Jio umbrella of Reliance Industries and Paytm, both of which have consolidated various services and offerings into one app.
