You may have heard about the rise of super apps. Super apps are a concept that is rapidly gaining traction in the app industry. In short, a super app is an application that combines all of the use cases of several apps into one single streamlined experience. For example, imagine if you wanted to watch a movie and you only had your phone with you. Super apps would make it possible for you to open up a single app and quickly browse through your favorite movies. Then, within the same app, you could rent the movie, purchase it for download to watch offline, or stream it immediately. Imagine this level of convenience added up over all the different use cases that you would normally be confronted with if you were searching through multiple apps each time you wanted to accomplish something on your phone.
5 Indicators That Super Apps Will Be Inevitable
Many factors are pointing to the possibility of a permanent presence of super apps in the mobile apps world.
1. Mobile payments are making the majority of their revenue via super apps
PayPal’s mobile payments platform has proven to be wildly successful. PayPal started following the super apps model by offering a single app that could be used to make online transactions. In the beginning, PayPal offered only two functions: transferring money between accounts and paying for online transactions. Over time, PayPal has added several features that have helped to make the experience of using the app more convenient for people. Their success is a clear indicator that the majority of consumers will want to concentrate their app usage within a single application.
2. The trend towards “instant gratification”
Apps have been proliferating at an incredible rate over the past few years and this trend will likely continue in the future. If demand for apps is high, then it makes sense to consolidate use cases into a single app instead of forcing people to download various apps to get what they want to be done. The trend towards “instant gratification” where users can accomplish multiple tasks within a single app means that app makers should prepare for the demand being shifted over to super apps shortly.
3. Super apps are more efficient than downloading several different applications
As mentioned earlier, not only do super apps save consumers time, but they also offer a highly efficient user experience. Since people tend to use their phones for those things that make their lives more convenient and offer some kind of gratification (like playing games or watching videos), it makes sense to design an application that caters to these kinds of activities as opposed to requiring the download of multiple apps.
4. Offering the ability to gather all of your personal information in one place
The average person owns multiple devices – each with its own set of applications on them. Most people would agree that it makes sense for their phone to be able to access all aspects of their lives, not just separate fragments of it. Imagine if everything from birthdays and anniversaries to medical records could all be accessed through one super app – this would make life significantly easier for an overwhelming majority of people.
5. The trend of “curation” is becoming increasingly mainstream
Nowadays more than ever, consumers are seeking out curated experiences on their devices. Super apps will be able to take advantage of this growing demand for curation by offering users a single application that can house all of the things they’re interested in at any given time.
So Are Super Apps Here To Stay?
Super apps are still relatively new and the concept itself continues to evolve as developers come up with creative ways of combining use cases into one streamlined experience. By using super apps, app makers hope that they can reduce user attrition by providing users with a convenient way of accessing their products. Whether or not this will be enough to keep the majority of people using one single app is yet to be seen – however, likely, super apps are here to stay for a long time.
Zara Raza is the Head of Marketing at Sunvera Software. She earned her Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of California, Irvine, in 2019, and has written several blogs on technology, software, marketing, education, business, and more.
