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.

Keywords

• Super apps
• Multi-platforms
• Growth strategy
• Platform envelopment
• Diversification
• Vertical integration