India’s Super App Race
Mobile app development has come a long way since the introduction of the first-ever iPhone in 2007. Consumers use mobile apps every day to connect with friends, order food, send money, and play games. It’s important for businesses to understand what consumers do and do not prefer in order to create a successful app. Mobile apps are an important channel to consider for businesses seeking to better communicate with customers. But how exactly do people use mobile apps today? That’s what we want to address in this blog. The mobile app ecosystem has remained more or less stagnant in terms of its overall philosophy. Sure, native app developers are on their heels to look out for the next big breakthrough. However, for end-users, it’s been the same for a long time. Now that we’re near 2019, the mobile application space needs something fresh and new.
Something like a ‘Super App’…
Before that…
What is a ‘Super App’ and why does it matter?
Quoting from the GoJek blog– “A Super App is many apps within an umbrella app. It’s an OS that unbundles the tyranny of apps. It’s the portal to the Internet for a mobile-first generation.” Lazaridis’ definition was a closed ecosystem of “many apps” that people would use every day “…because they offer such a seamless, integrated, contextualized and efficient experience”. The idea is to scale fast once you have a user’s buy-in and add multiple services to gain loyalty. How do we get to such a place, you open users to use your native app to value-added third-party services? You don’t need separate apps for this purpose, that would be self-defeating in creating a Super App. The way to go is by integrating these services into the main app. Eventually, the Super App becomes a 21st-century mobile OS for end-users. Truly, a one-stop solution!
On this note, there are a rare few out there who have tried to tailor-make an app that would bring this enhanced experience on that mobile today.
The Challenge in creating a Super App
So far, so good right? After reading all of this, you must be thinking this is what we need now. However, it is easier said than done. Take the example of Tapzo, which used to be a kind of Super app in India. It had in it over 35 apps such as Flipkart, Amazon, Ola, Uber, and many more in one single app. However, since its inception in 2010, Tapzo has gone through a series of rebranding and pivots. Initially, it was not an all-in-one app, but it was known as ‘Akosha’ which was a consumer complaint platform, and then it became a chat platform like Haptik rebranding itself to ‘HelpChat’. After a couple of years, it pivoted into an app aggregator — Tapzo. It had raised huge amounts of capital with a seemingly large team. In spite of all the resources available in terms of monetary and personnel, it couldn’t sustain long and was acqui-hired by Amazon Pay.
In order to build a super app for a country as vast as India, you need to understand the tier-2 and tier-3 cities users and their emotional needs.
AppBrowzer — India’s very own Super App!
First, the idea of building an all-in-one app was formed in 2012. It has taken time for us to find the right balance in today’s context. So what makes AppBrowzer a ‘Super App’? AppBrowzer is India’s premier leading all-in-one app. Users get a wide variety of apps within this one single app. In essence, AppBrowzer is not just any other app. It is an ecosystem for mobile users for the long haul. With popular categories like Recharge, Shopping, Social Media, and Gaming, coming to the forefront. It is vital to building an ecosystem with these in mind. We have managed to do just that with the right technical blend and through like-minded partnerships. This being said, India has not reached its full potential when it comes to the mobile. In a nation of 1.2 Billion people, only a third are on the internet. However, all the stats point to a staggering growth with easier access to the internet and affordable smartphones.
It is with this in mind, we have developed an app that will cater to the vast majority of users in the Indian context. No app can solve every problem but we believe we have solved a crucial need- a one-stop solution to all apps. The immediate and surface-level benefits are obvious such as saving space and improving RAM performance. However, the end goal is to create an enhanced experience for the post-modern mobile app user. There is a bigger picture to all this, according to statistica, there are over 2.6 million apps on the play store alone. There is a lot of tension for the user to save space in a saturated market. A Super App like AppBrowzer solves this imbalance.
The Big Picture…
If you’re building anything for the future, it has got to transcend modern thinking and trend. At AppBrowzer, we want to be more than a Super App. What can that look like? It calls for an Open Ecosystem. The traditional super app is generally a closed system with native services and built-in features, basically, everything built in-house. However, at AppBrowzer, we want to keep it open to businesses and individuals that are looking to enter the mobile market to provide mobile solutions for the post-modern user. Think about it, for a new application to enter now, there are several hurdles to scale and reach the audience.
But how is having an Open System on a Super App like AppBrowzer going to help? Well, there are several reasons. Firstly, as mentioned before, we are enabling businesses and individuals who have the capacity to solve and own a problem for the mobile user of today. Secondly, we can use in-house analytics to power the best suitable applications for end-users. And lastly, for the end-user, the possibilities are endless. The user will now get a tailor-made one-fit all application in his/her hand. This is the future…
In Conclusion…
To sum it all up, this is indeed our end goal — to build an app that covers every single aspect for the mobile user of today. Whether it’s shopping, browsing through social media, playing games or ordering food, or whatever the next big thing is, we’re here for everyone. This is a Win-Win for everyone, both for end-users and businesses solving a need in the Mobile context. The app is designed and developed to host multiple apps through responsive PWAs. With over 300+ apps on AppBrowzer, we’re enabling both businesses and end-users.
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