Super App Development - A Comprehensive Guide to Business Owners - Prismetric

Super App Development – A Comprehensive Guide to Business Owners

Buyer’s comprehensive super app development guide

The cyber world today can get any surprise in any form. In early 2015, Under The Dome (a Chinese documentary) recorded whopping 200 million views in just three days. The documentary was hardly over 100 minutes and here comes the surprise – more than 40% of views came from WeChat! With over a billion monthly active users, WeChat set an epitome of an app with super features phenomenon. So, how to build a super app that can do wonders just like the example we just learned?

Tencent, the parent company of WeChat, extended the horizon of a simple app on a smartphone and pushed its product beyond traditional desktop OS unwrapping its super features of sharing content through social media, booking tickets, cab/taxi, video calls, eCommerce, and many more day-to-day tasks. Now, this can give you a hint about what is a super mobile application.

What makes an app a super app? The definition of a super app

It may make your jaw drop that in 2010, Mike Lazaridis (Blackberry founder) had a gloomy idea about a super app as he thought to have a trend of mobile apps that would be useful to everyone for everyday life. The thought was very close to having a super app then because it depicted mobile software as not just a mobile app but the entire mobile app ecosystem.

A super application is a closed ecosystem of many apps that people would use every day because they offer a seamless, integrated, contextualized, and efficient experience
– Mike Lazaridis

While the trend of having a super mobile app started in China, quite soon the concept spread and crossed the boundaries reaching all across the world. The difference between a mobile application for a specific purpose and a super app for its varied features and offerings is not unknown.

Why build a super app? Market stats and demands

Not just developing countries such as Thailand, India, South America, and many European countries, the first-world countries such as the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia too have a huge user base of the super app. Most entrepreneurs especially those who want to venture into the IT sector have a concern about how to build a super app that yields them quick money in less time. And, they are right. The market of a super app through its stats and figures gives us a fair idea about its popularity and promising future in coming years.

According to research giant Statista, in Russia (2020), the super app business reported more than USD 50 billion; even further, the on-demand super apps development is likely to increase manifold by 2025. More than 70% of consumers in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany are interested in using a super app as compared to mobile apps with limited functionalities and features.

On the other hand, top-notch super-app development companies have started investing in super-app development models and on-demand industry apps to meet the market trend and revolutionize the mobile app industry. As a result, in coming years, we should witness a sharp rise in the demand for a super app as most multinational companies are and would invest heavily.

What should you have in a super app?

Super apps give immense opportunities to super app developers and business owners to have several features and functionalities in the app. Hence, it depends on your business needs and objectives to include whatever you want. Nevertheless, the principles of user experience and mobile app architecture should be followed to develop a super mobile app development in all cases.

A super mobile app is generally a hybrid app that is based on a cross-platform app development platform for better productivity and wider user base reach. Nevertheless, along with some must-have features in your mobile app, here we present a few more you may think of adding to your super app to make it even more potent.

Social media apps

No mobile app is complete today without the integration of social media. The social media integration helps users share their reviews, orders, and other information which, in turn, results in spreading the good word about the super app products and services. Business owners can leverage such benefits through social media app integration.

On-demand features

Another important integration for a customer-facing super app is services and product availability as users want. Myriad possibilities prevail for on-demand features: for example, apps including food or grocery delivery would house tracking, estimated time of delivery, secure payment gateway, and other similar features.

Payment

Multiple payment gateways are a need of the hour. Users are likely to originate and operate the super app for various services and products. Multipurpose app development could include various methods to pay online -securely and quickly. The targeted audience or the user base could be technical or non-technical and, therefore, programmers should also mind having simple ways and multilingual support in placing payment methods in super app development.

GPS

Geolocation-based services have become almost mandatory in almost all mobile applications and for the super app market, it is of paramount importance. With the advent of 5G and superfast optical fiber broadband internet, a top-notch super app would have powerful GPS-based features that can locate users and provide them with impeccable tracking services of all kinds. Depending on the type and nature of businesses, GPS-based features can be integrated and offered to users.

Types of the super app and their examples

A super app is like a Swiss army knife – myriad micro apps and mini apps gather and offer a seamless product or service to its users. Especially for gen-Z, having everything on their mobile isn’t possible through a dozen apps; instead, they would prefer a super app that includes multiple services and product offerings.

Chiefly, there are two types of super apps –

Customer-facing super apps

The trend of customer-facing super applications began in China with WeChat where the application offered mind-blowing features that customers loved to use. The customer-facing apps enable users to chitchat with friends, send or receive money from anywhere, order food or grocery, pay bills, and do many more things.

Employee-facing super apps

Known as B2E super apps, employee-facing super applications typically enable enterprises to engage with their employees and staff through integral operations. Such super apps help companies to have better productivity. The purpose of such apps is not to get into monetization as the targeted users are within the organization.

A few prime examples of super apps

The everyday super app is a collection of many apps within an umbrella application. Users would have an all-in-one experience to have dozens of services and hundreds of products in one application.

Tata Neu

Tata’s super app is launched by India’s one of the biggest groups of industries, the Tata Group, under the government’s mega project Digital India.

Tata Neu is a super app that houses innumerable services for everyday life. As a result of multipurpose app development, Tata Neu has been considered the best quality application to offer seamless user experience to all kinds of customers. Available on both iOS and Android, Tata Neu has positioned itself as a strong super app offering mind-blowing experiences for shopping, eating, traveling, and much more.

With excellent and lucrative rewards, offers, and discounts, Tata Neu has been the apple of the eye of millions of customers worldwide. A simplified payment gateway on the application also integrates other mobile applications and companies flawlessly. Hence, users can book a flight ticket from a renowned flight booking app (such as Air Asia), order groceries from the already established app (Big Basket), book luxury hotels, and order from pharmacies through popular applications.

Grab

A Singapore-based application Grab is a super app with the statement – a mission to drive Southeast Asia forward by creating economic empowerment for everyone. The customer-facing app offers impeccable services to consumers including deliveries of food, grocery, and express deliveries for documents and packages. For mobility, Grab offers easy taxi/cab and another vehicle booking for transportation or daily commute. If not enough, Grab houses various financial services such as paying others through various modes, insurance, and investment guide.

Gojek

Initially started with GorDie (motorbike ride-sharing), GoSend (delivery), and GoMart (shopping) services, today Gojek has witnessed a paradigm shift to becoming the most successful super app for the Southeast Asian market. More than twenty services through a single app are the backbone of its success. With more than 2 million registered driver-partners and more than 500000 GoFood merchants, the app has reported 170 million (and counting) downloads across the region.

WeChat

Launched in 2011, WeChat has come far from being a micro-message application. Today, it is one of the most successful super applications housing several mini platforms and programs within the app. The app has become a home screen for almost every person in China. With over one billion active users, the app offers innumerable services through the app including video chat, payment, socializing, coupons, membership cards for various consumer goods, translation services, and many other mini-programs.

Entrepreneurs can take ideas on how to build a super app through Grab and Tata Neu to study and lead the super app market. The on-demand hybrid app number is only growing; young businesspersons should also mind that sustaining the cutthroat competition today is possible only through developing the best quality applications with unique business ideas and revenue models.

Super app benefits

Super apps please everyone and, therefore, the present market thrives on multipurpose apps that offer mobile users all possible services and products under one application. The on-demand delivery app development has always been a sure-shot investment for businesspersons. In other words, the super app along with on-demand business ideas has the sky as a limit and entrepreneurs can think of monetization of all kinds.

The best part of super app development ideas is that everyone involved in using it would be benefited one or the other way. Here is a graphical presentation of super app benefits –

Users Customers

Users/customers: As a super app offers everything under one roof, they don’t need to go from post to pillar to get a product or avail of any service. Moreover, they would have their mobile phone space saved because one app would serve as many apps.

Business owners: For a businessperson, super apps are a boon. They would have multiple sources for their income as the revenues come from various apps and functionalities they offer. In addition, they would, through multiple app services, target various people from different age groups and all genders.

Administrator: For any app admin, the key lies in managing the app and finding accurate analysis. A super app would have a simple interface that offers seamless management of different services. As a result, the super app admin can handle the apps better and build foolproof business strategies through common yet diversified analytics.

Other than the above-mentioned valid points, super apps also offer a consistent user experience and through this, businesses can win consumers’ hearts. Multifunctionalities of a super mobile application can include popular apps and brands to stay under one roof and sell their products and services to a huge user base.

How to develop a super app: a step-by-step guide

To unlock terrific business benefits and market gain, you may want to follow a standard step-by-step app development guide for the clients’ that can walk you through all the different processes you ought to follow as an entrepreneur. Super app development particularly is a complex process so to break it down further, here are the steps to develop a super app –

Super app development Step

Market research: an aspiring entrepreneur would perform intense market research and trends to assure the best mobile app development practices are in place. App developers may also have the latest updates of super app market trends to include the features in demand. Research on peers will help business owners to make sure that their apps don’t lag behind.

Define functions: the next step after the research is to jot down the functions and features you require. Aligned with your business goal and objectives, the features should be listed out for developing a super app. MVP model may help in saving costs and time as you first list only much-required app features.

UI/UX approach: millions of dollars are put into UI/UX research because it is the pillar of any mobile app success. A super mobile app with feeble functionalities would end up in a terrible user experience and hence the chances of success sharply decline.

Right technology stack: depending on the business requirements and target audience/consumers, the technology stack is decided. Licensed tools and software are used to develop prototypes, wireframes, and the like. You may confirm it with your business and technology consultant and service provider to have a clearer idea of it.

Quality assurance: no matter how the super app development cycle went, if you fail to provide quality assurance, the app would end up in vain. The development complexity of super apps is not unknown; hence, you need to have expert super apps developers and managers at the helm for quality checks.

Deployment and maintenance: even further to quality assurance is proper deployment and maintenance of applications. The app quality is maintained through regular audits and app health checks through various tools and technologies. You may have a contract with super app providers to assure that your app is up and running.

Top Challenges of super app development

Every business comes with a set of challenges to face. Whether you are a small entrepreneur or a tycoon, building a super app asks for accuracy, dedication, and sincerity. However, you can hire a dedicated development team to overcome all the hurdles.

Here are some of the common super app development challenges to mind –

A big capital investment

Since it is a super app and it houses many mini-programs and micro apps from other vendors and companies, the super app development cost involves loads of capital. Owing to tons of resources to finish the job, developing this multifunctional app needs you to be ready with mammoth funds in your hands.

Contemporary IT infrastructure

With every passing day, super app development comes up with a new update and market trend. As an entrepreneur, you need to make sure that your app stands out in the super app market; hence, you require a cutting-edge IT infrastructure that has licensed tools, hardware, and software to meet the latest trend.

Security

With multipurpose everyday super apps comes a big security concern. Multi-factor user login authentication for various integrated APIs and third-party apps would require login through several ways and that is where the vulnerability enters. You need cyber security experts to handle any malfunctioning or attack.

UI/UX design

A super mobile application is aimed to be used by as many users as possible -probably millions. Now, with each user having their own taste, it is quite challenging to develop an intuitive UI for the best UX. The right placement of components and micro apps functioning flawlessly are big concerns to any super apps developers.

Super app business models

The most important thing for a businessperson is to be able to get the best ROI from the super app developed. For better returns, they ought to hire the best app development company which also justifies spending on super app development costs. The super app helps a business to integrate several revenue models. A few of them are mentioned here –

Gamification

Credits and rewards have always worked irrespective of the nature of businesses. It is one of the commonest business models for startups and established businesses. You can include a credit system where rewards, EMIs/loans can be used by consumers, customers, and even service providers on your super app platform. Through this, you can assure that the platform is used more and more and hence guarantees revenues.

Transaction charges

Through this super app revenue model, you can have a charge on every transaction happening on the platform. You can work out the charges with third-party service providers and consider them your business partners.

In-app purchase

In-app purchases and in-app subscriptions are two of the top super-app revenue models known to everyone. The model can be further developed through a number of logins, purchases, and more discounts through better deals as they share your business with their friends.

Commercials

Advertisements have been one of the mainstream revenue models for super applications. Various ways to show commercials on a super app user interface include banners, posters, clickable links, animated content, and even short videos or tutorials.

Super app development cost

Unlike a general app development cost, it is almost impossible to quote a perfect cost to develop a super application for mobile phones. The reason is simple and straightforward – the super apps have no limits in their features, functionalities, and third-party APIs or integrations.

The cost shall increase with each inclusion or added item and hence it is solely your business requirements that would decide the budget for super app development; in addition, factors such as project complexity, design complexity, app testing, ongoing maintenance, number of developers and origin of app development company -they all matter in fixing up the super app development price.

However, according to business and technology consultants, super app development costs may begin at USD 75000 and goes up depending on the features needed. In the same way, with complexity the time to develop an app may vary; however, it may take up to 6-8 months to develop super apps customized to predefined objectives.

Ending note

You have an app idea but now what? There are always awesome business ideas that you can work on. The best ones are those that are in demand, and super apps lead the market today. You can hire a super app development company that not only can work on your business objectives but also give you the best inputs from the market to make your business app successful.

Super app development FAQs

What are super apps?

Super apps are mobile applications that offer several services and products within one app so that users don’t need to jump from one app to another. It is an all-in-one app that offers shopping, taxi booking, health tracking, food/grocery delivery, and the like.

What is super app development?

Super app development is a process through which a multifunctional application is built through a standardized process. Various techniques, processes, and roadmaps are involved in the entire project cycle.

How much does it cost to build a super app?

Super application development is a highly complex process as it involves loads of resources in terms of super app developers and designers, licensed tools, and quality check experts. The cost to develop a super app depends on complexities and the number of features. However, the price range starts from USD 75000 and goes up as per the features you needed.

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