Elon Musk said he would consider turning Twitter into a super app with a strong focus on payments, if he buys the company. He called WeChat, which is owned by China-based Tencent, a “good model” for a super app.
Meanwhile, Revolut, a global neobank that entered the U.S. in March 2020, chose to go for a super service in the financial sector. It specializes in mobile banking, card payments, money remittance, and foreign exchange.
In this article, we tried to look into differences between a super app and a super service. We analyzed the risks of these models and established why a super service is just a mobile platform for a horizontal ecosystem.
What is a super app
A super app is a multi service mobile application. In other words, it is a mobile interface for an ecosystem combining its products and services on one screen. This is where users issue credit cards, book flights, order food delivery and takeouts, request cleaning, book an apartment or a hotel. A super app may include any range of services.
Companies integrate such services via API or their own development framework. Services appear in a super app as separate icons. Developers call them in different ways: applets, mini apps, or smart apps. Such apps are aggregated in a separate section.
For instance. WeChat serves over one billion users monthly. The services include messaging, e-wallet, food delivery, inner-city courier services, public transportation e-tickets, car sharing, bicycle sharing, e-government services and more.
Over a year, Airasia has turned its app for booking flights into a multi service with food delivery, mobile wallet, insurance, messenger and taxi service.
What is a super service
It is also a multi service mobile application, but developed around one market segment. For example, a super service for drivers, a super service for repair, or a super service for e-commerce.
For instance. DriveU is an Indian super service for drivers. Earlier it offered car owners just to hire drivers. Then it added new features: search for car washes, car services and online appointment, roadside assistance, a bulletin board for buying and selling cars, digital insurance, loyalty program and a personal account for storing insurance policy, a driver’s license, etc.
A Philippine-grown super service mymall is a mobile-based technology platform for hiring trained partners to run such jobs as grocery delivery, personal shopping in malls, plumbing and carpentry works, etc. Its goal is to combine such partners, products and services, and the hiring process within one app.
Why develop a super service
The company develops a super service when it competes only in its main segment. It is not going to develop non-core business areas and compete in them. The company becomes an expert in its niche, studies all the business aspects, and provides services better than any new player.
For example. Revolut is the most successful global neobank measured by users. It combines both retail and business banking in one app, along with device and travel insurance, investing, crypto access, and merchant services. Thus, it competes with such successful fintechs as Stripe, Adyen and Square, and does not go beyond its main area of expertise.
Why develop a super app
Super apps help to keep the audience within the ecosystem thanks to a large number of services. For the same reason, a super app has a higher chance to land on the first screen of a smartphone: more benefits for customers and a higher need for an application.
It is cheaper to attract users to a super app than to several applications. It is also easier to launch a new service with a warm audience than to promote it in a competitive niche from scratch. In addition, open super apps save on growth through partnerships and third-party developers.
Why a super service can win
1. The main business is of high quality. When there are several identical services on the market, and a vast number of ecosystems and offers, the quality of the service becomes decisive. A company with the best service can keep its core audience, even without developing auxiliary services, and take customers away from competitors.
2. Ecosystem data is open to everyone. Governments want to regulate ecosystems and create an equal competitive environment. And in a few years, any market player will get the data that ecosystems and super apps are accumulating now. This means that ecosystems and super apps will lose their major advantages and cannot keep users with a unique personalized offer.
3. Partners help to move forward. If a financial company develops its own super service, like Klarna, PayPal or Revolut, it is delivering financial and payment solutions for other ecosystems and brands. It creates branded wallets, branded investment services or tools with instant issuance of bank cards in partner applications. Such a company gives its infrastructure and expertise, packages them under a partner brand and expands its customer base.
Why a super service can lose
1. Digital barriers are emerging. Users are tired of logins, passwords, authorizations, linking payment cards and the constant leaks of their personal data. In a few years, voice assistants will solve users’ tasks without having to touch the screen. Therefore, it is more convenient to solve many tasks in a single interface. And a super service can solve only highly specialized tasks.
For example, it is not possible to book a flight with Revolut. A user needs to open another app and use Revolut in that app. Some people like it this way. Moreover, they may get cashback and discounts on partner websites. Others, on the contrary, want to solve problems without jumping between interfaces with different mechanics.
2. Diversification disappears. Focusing only on the quality of the core business is like putting all the eggs in one basket. If a company lacks competencies to beat competitors at quality, it will lose its audience. If users can get the same quality of services with additional value in a different interface, they will leave. A super service must provide the best service, the best conditions for customers, the fastest and most personalized service, and smooth operation. However, there is no guarantee that all this will work out.
3. Managing the product is more difficult. The ecosystem model assumes common rules for participants, a single standard for development and interaction. Revolut partners a variety of companies and services. As it has individual terms with each of them, it complicates managing its general product. After all, each partner has its own team, its own management approach, and operating procedures.
What to choose
It is all very personal. To choose a suitable model, the company analyzes the market and drafts a product strategy. It analyzes its capabilities and unique advantages, calculates risks and starts development. Now a super service looks like a super app for a narrow segment of the market, i.e., as a mobile platform for a horizontal ecosystem.