In the bustling digital landscape of India, we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to apps—whether for payments, shopping, food delivery, or entertainment. But recently, one question has irked my mind: Super apps or multiple specialized apps—which works better?
Let me start with my personal experience. Like many in India, I rely on Paytm, one of India’s pioneering super apps. Paytm started as a simple wallet for mobile recharges but now offers everything from paying bills to booking flights, investing in mutual funds, and even grocery shopping. It’s convenient to have all these features at my fingertips, especially when I’m in a rush. There’s no switching between five apps just to get through daily chores, and that one-app-for-everything vibe feels efficient.
Yet, there’s a flip side. Super apps can become clunky and overwhelming. I often find myself scrolling through dozens of features I don’t need, and sometimes the app crashes under the weight of its own complexity. Imagine you’re in the middle of booking a train ticket and the app suddenly freezes! That’s when I realize the beauty of multiple specialized apps.
I do remember a day when I urgently needed to book a cab and order groceries for my mother. I could have used Paytm for both, but I ended up switching to Uber for the ride and BigBasket for groceries.
Why? Because I knew Uber would get the cab part right, and BigBasket had exactly the grocery items I wanted, delivered on time.
Specialized apps seem to be reliable, they do one thing and often do it better than an overloaded super app.
Another personal revelation hit me while using Swiggy and Zomato for food delivery. These apps specialize in one domain, and their user interface is designed to optimize that experience. I rarely face glitches and the delivery times are accurate. In contrast, I’ve had issues with super apps that tried to do too much at once.
In India, while super apps like Tata Neu, Reliance’s Jio, and Paytm are expanding their arms, I still find myself relying on specialized apps for core needs.
At the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference. If you enjoy the convenience of an all-in-one solution, super apps are a blessing. But if, like me, you prefer apps that excel in one domain, sticking to specialized apps might offer a smoother experience.
References
1. Sai, Chai With. “The Bust of Super Apps in India: Mistakes and Lessons.” Medium, https://medium.com/@chaiwithsai/the-bust-of-super-apps-in-india-mistakes-and-lessons-1a0994f9bd26.
2. Kapron, Z. (2024, February 16). Across Asia, Super Apps Are Facing A Moment Of Truth. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/zennonkapron/2024/02/16/across-asia-super-apps-are-facing-a-moment-of-truth/
It is interesting that you highlighted the current developments when it comes to super apps in India. To answer your question super apps or specialized apps, we can look at the current situation in China to predict potential developments in India. In China, you have a communication application called WeChat, which also hosts thousands of mini apps on their platform. Meituan, for instance, has a native app and a mini-program on the WeChat ecosystem. Through the WeChat ecosystem you can still access your favorite specialized apps all on one app.
Nevertheless, there are still differences among the usage between the native app and the mini version of it. For instance, users tend to spend more on the native app compared it to its counterpart and users from lower tier cities (tier 4 or higher) tend to opt more for the mini-app on the WeChat ecosystem. This is potentially explained by the fact that users in lower tier cities have cheaper data plans or do not have enough storage on their phone.
Reference: https://walkthechat.com/wechat-mini-programs-simple-introduction/
I really enjoyed reading your article and find out more about a supper app such as Paytm. I’ve heard of supper apps like this, similar to Wechat in China and Gojek in Indonesia. Interesting is that in Europe they never got as popular, I think one of the reasons for that is that average European consumer prefer apps that excel in one domain, that offer better user experience and have a higher reliability. In addition, one of the hurdles to supper app adoption in Europe is that the most government services cannot be integrated with private app functionality.