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"Superapp" is a concept that is rapidly becoming popular in Latin America, with the emergence of "all-in-one" applications that encompass more than one service on a single platform. It is a concept that originated in China to name apps that seek to satisfy several demands: facilitating communication, online shopping, research, ridesharing and finance, such as the WeChat, Alipay and Taobao apps.
In LATAM, super apps are looking to create a solution that combines payment methods, selling a variety of products in an attempt to sell more and get ahead of foreign companies that still dominate the market. This is the case of Latin American super apps such as Rappi, Inter, Magazine Luiza and Baz from Mexico.
It is possible to see this trend also in foreign social network apps, such as WhatsApp and Facebook, which have recently launched internal payment options on their platforms: WhatsApp Pay and Facebook Pay, as well as Snapchat, which comprises a series of "mini-apps" integrated into its platform. Mini-apps are basically programs developed as apps, but which are not available in the app stores, but are integrated within larger apps with their own system, and can be downloaded directly from there, increasing the options of what the "main app" can do. LATAM Fintech apps such as Mercado Pago and PicPay are increasingly adding payment solutions to their portfolio of services. It is not yet possible to call them super apps, but the more services that are incorporated into these platforms for various purposes, the closer they are to being considered "super apps".
Therefore, it is difficult to define what a super app is in Latin America, or in the rest of the world when compared to services in China, but it is safe to say that they will be applications that aim to satisfy users' diverse demands in one place, with the plan to increase the time of use and the impact of the application on users, just as the Chinese model has done.
What are the most popular "Latin American super apps" currently doing?
Rappi: initially a delivery app, now in addition to delivering food and grocery/pharmacy items, it also delivers from different stores such as pet supplies or beverages. It also has an integrated option to search for flights, hotels and car rentals for travel, and has incorporated into its platform a financial solution that also issues a virtual or physical credit card known as RappiPay.
Magalu: the famous retailer has diversified with its app, which in addition to buying items in general, has acquired other companies selling cosmetics, shoes and clothing, and has partnered with other companies in the market. Magalu has opened up a space for marketplace shopping orders, in addition to implementing financial options such as Magalu Pay, Magalu's digital wallet, which also features cashback and the Magalu credit card.
Inter: no longer called Banco Inter and in addition to opening accounts and credit cards, it now offers cashback, an investment platform in various types of shares, insurance, loans and real estate financing, telephone plans, monthly subscription to an online store and other advantages in the "Inter Store".
Baz: Banco Azteca's app, in addition to financial payment options, credit application, mobile recharge and other banking facilities, now also allows managing business and company payments, and even has entertainment options for users, such as online TV, social networks, news, online movie rental, creation of music playlists, podcasts, etc.
What is expected from super apps in LATAM?
According to App Annie's State of Mobile 2022 report, in 2021 there were more than 230 billion new app downloads, 5% more than in 2020, and the average daily smartphone usage time by users reached 4.8h. Taking into account these data and that user spending in app stores has exceeded $170 billion, it is natural to assume that the trend for super apps is to try to increase usage time and user engagement in these apps, a strategy that starts from a very valuable economic plan with a very high ROI if successful.
Looking at these figures and the continued growth trend of current Latin super apps, and other apps that are close to following the trends of the market leaders, it is expected that super apps will continue to be created. LATAM is also known to be "fertile ground" for the emergence of new unicorns in the sector. Beyond that, there is the fact that large LATAM cities are solving some regional difficulties, such as access to high-speed internet with fiber optics, the arrival of 5G technology, access to credit lines and credit cards, and better and more powerful smartphones that have high processing capacity.
However, there is still a long way to go to reach the level of super apps that exist on the other side of the world, as the LATAM ecosystem is still growing and adapting to this reality. We are still learning to incorporate "mini-apps" or "mini-programs" to the super apps in LATAM, while WeChat, for example, already has millions of mini-programs added to the super app, which solve a large part of the daily needs of the Chinese population.
There is another regional barrier around user privacy and data sharing. With the advent of GDPR and the advancement of data protection and ads limitation laws - especially the most recent ones in the US and EU - in addition to Apple's ATT policies, and its exclusive payment method policies and fees imposed on App Store sellers, it is implicit that super apps in LATAM will have to deal with slower development.
It will be necessary to obtain permission from users to make it viable to access the different functionalities that the super-apps will implement. In addition, access to user data tends to be increasingly limited, making it difficult to develop these apps, re-engage users and personalize mobile ads.
So, the answer to the initial question is: yes, super apps are likely to be the future not only for LATAM, but also for most of the world. What we can safely observe is that replicating the Chinese model will be very difficult here, given user privacy laws, and the dynamics that still exist of separating apps by categories or more specific verticals. However, as always, we will adapt.
