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IT corporations are following WeChat and Uber by merging their services into one app. In our country, banks have also joined them. What are superapps and how will they change our habits very soon?
Recently, Yandex has combined all its city services into one application – Yandex Go. Inside it are taxis, carsharing, urban transport, cargo transportation and delivery: food from restaurants, and groceries from Yandex Lavka. The network is already full of conflicting reviews and memes: not everyone likes a hodgepodge of buttons and extra options that only distract.
This is not the first such step: in Yandex.Maps, you can monitor city transport, launch a navigator, and see recommendations for popular places and routes.
All this is just part of a global trend: corporations are increasingly switching to superapps, optimizing their resources.
What is superapp?
Superapp – or superapp (English superapp) – these are applications with an extended set of functions. It keeps the user within one ecosystem of the services of a particular company. Most often these are financial services, lifestyle, delivery of goods, personal services.
The term “super app” was first coined by BlackBerry founder Mike Lazaridis. He said that it is “a closed ecosystem in which many applications simultaneously exist.”
The creators of super apps expect that this way they will get more reach and order volume. I went to find the nearest car sharing — at the same time I remembered that I needed to buy food for breakfast.
Switching between options within a superapp is easier and faster than switching between multiple apps. At the same time, the application itself adjusts to the user’s behavior: in the first tab, it offers a taxi on a frequent route or ordering food from your favorite restaurant.
Asia: WeChat and Alipay
Chinese messenger WeChat, launched in 2011, is the main reference point for superapp creators. China has banned other instant messengers and online platforms like WhatsApp or Facebook. As a result, WeChat combined financial, government and household services. Here you can communicate, apply to government agencies or apply for a loan, pay for goods and services.
In the first three years, WeChat earned about $7 per user. By the end of 2019, the application was used by about 800 million people. The app works in over 100 countries, is available on all popular devices and platforms, and supports 21 languages.
WeChat has become a platform for many brands and online stores, including international ones. Here you can buy wholesale and retail, rent, book, play games or consult a doctor. Each developer can create their own mini-app based on WeChat for iOS or Android. In the mini programs section, you can even order food from McDonalds.
For the Chinese, who have few other alternatives, WeChat is also a way to interact with the outside world. For example, WeChat Go is a travel service used by 120 million overseas Chinese tourists annually.
Chinese payment system Alipay, owned by Alibaba, is also built into an entire ecosystem of services. Through it, you can pay for goods and services, including mobile communications and financial services. Like WeChat, you can pay with Alipay by scanning a QR code. In China, this method is very popular, because only 27% of the population have plastic cards and bank accounts.
Alipay owns 55% of China’s mobile transaction market, while fintech business Tencent, which owns WeChat Pay, owns 39%, according to Analysys consultancy.
But the most interesting detail is that Alipay collects user transaction data and transfers it to Ant Financial. Based on these data, a special rating is formed, on which many things depend: the chances of obtaining a loan and the rate on it, access to public services, and even flying abroad. The social credit system is an example of what the future can hold for us if all applications and services start to integrate with each other.
In 2019, Mail.Ru Group, Alipay, USM, MegaFon and RDIF launched a joint project of electronic payments in our country.
Another Asian superapp is a logistics service Grave in Singapore. In the application, you can order a taxi, deliver food and parcels, rent a bike or scooter, get a loan, pay for goods and services. Now the company is introducing online medicine and insurance services.
Grab is available in eight Asian countries and has 144 million users.
Grab has recently partnered with online movie theater HOOQ, making it Netflix’s top competitor in Asia.
Japanese messenger Line Corporation with 44 million users, it also creates a superapp with a payment and credit system, built-in third-party mini-apps (like WeChat), food delivery and logistics for restaurants.
The Indonesian application Gojek also integrates 18 services for courier delivery, taxi, online shopping, food delivery, ordering services. By the beginning of 2019, 155 million users in Southeast Asia had installed the superapp.
USA: Uber and Google
The Western market is arranged differently, and here applications and services have to constantly compete with each other. So far, Uber and Google have come closest to creating superapps. But they, unlike WeChat, are widely distributed around the world.
With the help of services Uber it is already possible to call a taxi and car sharing (including drones), order food and goods delivery, and make payments. In October 2019, the company took the first step towards a super app: now in some regions, you can order both a taxi and food delivery through Uber Taxi. Later, carsharing and other transport were also included here.
To conquer the Asian market, Uber acquired some of the business from Grab and Careem. As a result, the payment service Uber Money appeared, and then Uber Wallet. Later, the service was integrated with Apple Pay and Google Pay systems. Drivers, couriers and customers of Uber services are connected to Uber Wallet.
В Google Maps you can lay routes and plan regular trips – for example, from home to work; book tours, hotels and flights; book tables in restaurants; order food; call a taxi and other transport from Uber. Available options vary by country.
Facebook also expands the functionality of its applications for business – through online payments and commercial transactions. Airbnb plans to grow into a global travel platform: now, in addition to booking accommodation, you can plan your entire trip here.
The average American spends 1 hour 15 minutes on Facebook every day.
Who makes super apps in our country?
VK. The social network has its own payment system – VK Pay, as well as mini-applications – like in WeChat. Through them, you can buy goods and services, order food, watch movies and TV shows, listen to music, play online games.
Tinkoff. Once it was just an online bank, but today you can buy train and air tickets, movie and concert tickets, and book a table in a restaurant. In the future, online stores and all the same mini-applications will appear here.
VTB. The bank is still working on the integration of services, but Magnit, Rostelecom and Burger King have already been announced as partners. In addition to the standard set of services, users are promised a “points exchange” – something like a cashback through the loyalty program of partner companies.
Sberbank hasn’t announced its super app yet, but has already registered the SuperApp trademark.
Now everyone will combine their applications into one?
Thanks to Uber, “uberization of services” has begun all over the world: when one application replaces a bunch of intermediary companies between the customer and the contractor. What is happening now is the next step. It can be called “Uberization of applications”: the number of icons in our smartphone will be reduced, and we will get used to ordering everything in one place.
For companies this means reducing the cost of developing and maintaining dozens of applications, instead of which there will now be one. It will also be easier and cheaper to launch new services: mini-applications will be made by third-party developers, and superapps will only connect them. Inside the application, it will be easier to collect statistics in order to introduce new services and “kill” unnecessary ones. The set of services will differ in different countries: for example, in Southeast Asia, scooter rentals are much more popular than taxis. Of course, the creators of superapps expect to increase sales – due to the fact that you will be constantly offered additional services.
For users the main benefit is that now you don’t need to load the smartphone’s memory and switch between applications. We will be able to appreciate the second benefit over time, when superapps become much smarter. Then they will be able to analyze our addresses and preferences, weather and traffic on the roads and suggest the best options. For example: take a taxi and go to a movie premiere or order food and watch your favorite series at home. Whether the services will transfer this data about us somewhere else – as in the case of Alipay – is another question.
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