Most people have probably heard of Wechat, an instant-messaging app that is frequently brought up for its successful business story, just like Apple. With worldwide monthly active users hitting 1 billion by the first quarter of 2018 (1), the app is continuously breaking the record in market penetration set by itself (2). Majority of those who know about the app might consider it as simply the Chinese version of WhatsApp, while those who have a deeper knowledge might see Wechat as a messaging app with many additional functions. In fact, it is hard to place it into any particular category, or talk about about its influence over a independent market or industry. Wechat is literally playing the role of a game changer, whose presence is reshaping the business model and/or operation process of all businesses that are connected to the digital work, which in absolute terms, are businesses in every single industry. It is thus not exaggerating to say that an ecosystem has been created around this mobile application.
So what is Wechat actually capable of? Here’s a brief overview of all its functions. The most fundamental service provided by the app, as everyone knows, is basic communication. You can share text and voice messages with friends and family members individually, or share your thoughts and life moments in the form of text, photo, video, or webpage-links with everyone in your contact list. What makes it extraordinary is that, you are also able to book a taxi, hotel or restaurant; order food and drinks; buy bus, railway, flight, movie and museum tickets; top-up or buy cellular data for your own and anyone else’s phone; share work documents between multiple devices; make money transactions; withdraw and deposit money from your bank; play in-app games; listen to and share music; set remainder for tasks; book doctor appointments; rent apartments, cars and bikes; pay your utility bills; buy groceries and conduct online shopping… You can even get involved in charities by donating money (3)! Doesn’t this virtually covers everything people tend to do in their daily lives? It normally takes about 40 apps to have all the activities mentioned above done, but Wechat has them all included. It facilitates a new form of life style, and that is why it lives up to the title of “Super App”.
Speaking from individuals’ perspectives, enormous convenience has been brought to people’s living. Looking at players from different industrial sectors, although the extent varies, they are all somehow forced to take this new model of social interaction into account when conducting business activities. There is no doubt that those who don’t make an effort in integrating their products or services into this app will be left out by the markets and customers. So what does the great success of this All-in-One application implies? Personally, I think it is the possibility that all business activities will be surrounding a single app in the future. The type and scope of products and services will continue to expand, however, the number of platforms that people interact on will be significantly reduced. The social systems are getting increasingly complicated due to the rise of digital and information technologies, I believe that eventually some day, people will start to feel overwhelmed and lost in the face of such wide selections of applications. This tends to stimulates strong desires toward unification and simplicity among the public. Considering the social-economic structure of societies differ significantly across the world, many may argue that Super Apps like Wechat is not a feasible option for their countries. However, it is the idea and mindset behind such apps that matters, their scope can in fact be largely narrowed down. For instance, we can have one app for all activities related to healthcare (i.e. from booking an appointment to reporting the postoperative reactions), also one app for everything related to an individual’s education, etc. It is true that the extent of integration of these social functions/activities depends on a wide scope of factors, but we have to admit that this development trend for future applications non-negligible.
Sources:
- https://www.businessinsider.com/wechat-has-hit-1-billion-monthly-active-users-2018-3?international=true&r=US&IR=T
- https://fleximize.com/articles/006663/chinese-super-app-changing-tech
- https://qz.com/1167024/all-the-things-you-can-and-cant-do-with-your-wechat-account-in-china/
- https://www.intheblack.com/articles/2015/12/01/how-wechat-is-reshaping-facebooks-social-media-future
Hi He, thanks for sharing the blog. I have been using WeChat for several years to keep in touch with friends from China. I did not expected that this communication app has so many functions like you mentioned in the article. It is astonishing that WeChat gathers all kinds of services in it. However, I agree with those who think the feasibility of WeChat as a super app has to give credit to the region and culture. Moreover, I believe that each application has its own competitive advantages. Merging all the apps into one cannot guarantee the quality of the functions although it will be much easier and more convenient for user to operate. Therefore, I am opposed to this concept of super app. However, I feel the same way on what you mentioned in the end of the blog. The mindset of super app can be use in the integration of related activities and services. This will definitely make people’s life simpler. Thanks again for sharing the blog.