The benefits of super apps for retailers

Super apps are on the rise globally: by 2027, more than 50 percent of the world's population will use several super apps every day (Gartner). These multifunctional applications provide users with various mini-apps as a supplementary service in addition to their core functionality. As a result, they offer numerous benefits not only to their end users, but also to retailers. In this article, we take a look at how retailers can benefit from super apps and their rapid spread.

What makes super apps so special

Super apps act as a platform. Their main function is at the center. In addition, users can activate further services directly via the super app, which are provided in the form of mini-apps. Like native apps, mini-apps offer various services such as financial services, food delivery or marketplaces. The main advantage of mini-apps is that users do not have to download an app and create a profile. They simply open the mini app in the super app, which is already installed.

Rapid development of new business opportunities

By bringing together various services on one platform, customers can more easily access additional services and therefore also products and offers. By participating in a super app, retailers can therefore reach a wider audience very quickly and with comparatively little marketing effort, increasing the chances of impulse purchases. Seamless in-app payments also help to increase conversation rates.

Better customer service, higher customer loyalty, more sales

Order as a guest or create an account? Another password? What were my credit card details again? None of this matters in a super app. Customers enter their data exactly once. If they decide to use another service, the information is forwarded directly to the respective provider. This not only saves time, but is also convenient. Saving time and convenience are also the reasons most frequently cited by consumers (69% and 53% respectively) as to why they are interested in using super apps (Statista 2024).

But it's not just customers who benefit from sharing data across the super app ecosystem. The more time users spend in the super app and mini-apps, the more data can be collected. By combining the data and analyzing preferences and purchase histories, retailers can exploit cross-selling and up-selling opportunities, create targeted offers, strengthen customer loyalty and thus increase sales.

For large and small companies 

Developing an app and, above all, bringing it to customers costs a lot of money. It is an investment that not every company can afford. When developing a mini app for a super app, on the other hand, you can focus entirely on functions and offers for precisely this target group. Goodbye sophisticated advertising plans and large marketing budgets. In addition to the cost savings, you can also count on the support of the super app provider. After all, it is in their interest not only to gain suitable partners for their own ecosystem, but also to retain them.

The dominant platform for digital commerce

Examples such as Gojek (a multi-service tech platform for transportation, payments, food delivery, logistics and shopping), Orami (an Indonesian e-commerce platform for parents) and many more have proven that super apps are changing the way consumers shop. 

Gen Z, the generation of digital natives, is also pushing search engines like Google to the sidelines, preferring to research and buy products on social networks. 

Looking at these developments, competition in the future will be less between individual companies and more between the various platforms. Super apps are therefore the place to be for the omnichannel strategy.

A win-win situation for everyone involved

Providers of super apps do not have to develop the services alone and partners benefit from the user base. All players play their part in making the ecosystem attractive and relevant for users. And that in turn makes it easier for everyone to do business.

The framework conditions are in place

Banking apps are the ideal starting point for developing a super app. If a payment option is available, you can already move on to e-commerce.

How good that we, as app developers, not only realize many projects for banks, but have also created our mobile-pocket customer loyalty platform for retailers that is already integrated into a number of banking apps. The infrastructure is therefore already in place in the financial industry. As a retailer, all you have to do is use it. 

We are the professionals who bring both worlds together. Get in touch with us.