Wouldn’t life be easier if you have one single app where you can order food and grocery, book a home cleaning service, movie tickets, cab, buy clothes and accessories, and more? In short, everything you need in one single app with amazing discounts and deals. Yes, a super app can do that for you! We Chat, a messaging program founded in China, now provides social networking services, along with cab-hailing, meal reservations, movie ticket purchasing, and more.

But why do businesses need it?

Two years ago, businesses concentrated more on releasing simple mobile apps for customers in order to gain market share. Well, two years later, the focus turned to retaining current consumers and capturing newly emerging segments. The new age-consumers-Gen Z (or Zoomers) prioritize convenience and an exceptional customer experience above everything else. Their lives revolve around technology and the digital world. They value speediness and an intuitive experience. What’s more intriguing about Zoomers is their attention span is merely 8 seconds! Super apps–a one-stop-shop- will give users the ability to navigate within the application and access various services without downloading and installing separate apps for the same.

What’s different about the Super app?

In India, Ola which initially started as a shared mobility platform now offers food and grocery delivery service as well. In fact, consumers’ favourites-Amazon and Flipkart are also transitioning to a similar model. The simple reason behind this adoption is convenience it offers to the organizations and to the consumers. Let’s look at some of the key benefits of switching to super apps: 

1. Increase Customer Acquisition: Super apps offer much more than standalone apps. With a multitude of services, users get a seamless experience without having to download multiple apps to avail of services. 

2. Improve Customer Stickiness: Customer Stickiness has become an essential benchmark for businesses to grow. Super apps can pave the way for brands to retain customers because of the convenience it offers. 

3. Saves phone storage and memory, as opposed to having multiple apps for different needs.

5. Businesses can gather a vast amount of consumer data using super apps. This data can be used to learn more about user behavior and analyze the trends and patterns to improve personalization and speed up consumer interaction.

6. Improve Customer Engagement: Companies can create personalized solutions for consumers and introduce new offerings. For eg, Tata Neu offers discounts and deals to their customers to engage customers.

Indian Super Apps that are making waves in the industry : 

• Paytm: Paytm offers services like bill payments, mobile recharges, utility travel, movie and events bookings, in-store payments, payments, and more through their QR code system. 
• Tata Neu: Tata Group launched a super app–Tata Neu which includes a bouquet of services like flight bookings, hotel bookings, car buying, groceries, investments, and more. It also provides offers on various in-house brands such as Starbucks, AirAsia India, Big Basket, Westside, 1mg, and other in-house brands. Users are rewarded for their purchases with Neu Coins, which can be redeemed the next time they buy. 
• People Strong: APAC’s leading Human Capital Management SaaS platform-People Strong recently launched their super app that has functionalities of their 3 applications: ALT Learning (a user learning and growth platform), ALT Worklife (An HR app focused to simplify worklife), Zippi (a collaborative Work Management platform). Mantra Labs collaborated with People Strong to help them build an HR-based super app. The app has been downloaded by 1M+ users on the play store with 4.6 ratings.
• My Jio: A super app with all the Jio services offered by Jio from grocery to mobile recharges to video streaming and more. 

Challenges Ahead: 

Super apps have several advantages for businesses to thrive and maximize their profit. However, there lies a significant challenge in developing an app that has the best user interface, doesn’t hang, and has a fresh design for Gen Z. Losing even one customer because of a poor experience may turn out to have severe repercussions for the organization because customers may not be able to trust the company again. Here, technology will act as an enabler in building the best customer experience of tomorrow. Android 13, iOS 16, and 5G will soon roll out for users worldwide. Businesses are leveraging mixed reality in designing mobile applications to make the complete experience more immersive. This will undoubtedly aid businesses in constructing unique super apps with a far better user experience that appeals to Gen Z users.

The Future:

Rapi Pay bagged $15 billion funding to launch their super app “NYE” in the digital banking space. The Indian government announced the launch of a super app for farmers which will have everything they require in a single place. Other giants like ITC and Adani are planning to mark their territory in this landscape. The competition will get fierce, but what will make one super app different from another? Building a Super App will be a long-term venture that calls for significant financial outlays, business alliances, and commitment. It’ll be interesting to see how these companies design the UI/UX of their super apps. Well, the one that can keep the Zoomers hooked beyond 8 secs wins!

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