Digital platforms’ growth strategies and the rise of super apps

Abstract

Super apps allow users to access messaging, payments, e-commerce, deliveries, ridesharing, and many other services within the same app. While there are some very successful and dominant super apps in Asia such as WeChat , KakaoTalk , Alipay , or Grab , others, including Elon Musk with X ( Twitter ), are aiming to establish super apps in the U.S. and Europe. This explanatory study analyzes the super app phenomenon from a firm-level perspective. It provides preliminary insights on how digital platforms are reaching the super app status, and are evolving from single-purpose to multi-purpose apps. Using data from 380 platforms in the mobility sector, a regression model is estimated to understand which platforms are capable of pursuing a super app strategy: young, agile, and risk-taking firms. I also discuss the case of Uber to illustrate the motivations and the various growth strategies that are incrementally paving the way to becoming a super app. Finally, testable propositions and a conceptual model are forwarded to stimulate future research on this timely topic.

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