Why brands need to embrace super apps

If there is one constant in the business world, it’s that customer needs and expectations are always changing.

The good news is that as demand evolves, so does technology.

Super apps, in particular, are a new concept within the platform space that help brands keep up with consumer expectations and scale as their business grows - locally or globally.

Read on to learn more about what a super app is, the benefits and key features they offer, and how businesses are using them to realize their long-term goals.

What is a super app

A super app is a platform that combines various functionalities which can include messaging, e-commerce, payment methods, ticketing, and more into a single app. These platforms enable customers to communicate, shop, pay utility bills, book services, receive support, and complete purchases with their favorite brands - all in one place.

Super apps entered the market in the early 2000s and gained traction in the Asian market with WeChat, Grab, and KakaoTalk leading the way. Now, with the recent developments in AI and communication technologies, the concept is being embraced by apps across the world as we see new players enter and evolve.

Although super apps are still an emerging technology in most regions apart from Asia, Rakuten Viber is paving the way as the first super app in Europe. Brands use Rakuten Viber for its vast set of features that enable them to attract, engage, convert, and retain customers through ads, immersive technology, in-app purchase options, and more.

Read on to learn more about these features and the benefits they bring to businesses.

Benefits of using a super app for brand-user communication

Brands that have implemented super apps as a part of their customer communication strategy have seen remarkable growth. 

A few key business benefits derived from super apps include:

• Stay top of mind: On average, app users spend 77% of their time on their top 3 apps, and almost half of their time in one single app. And 50.1% of the time spent on mobile is done using social media and messaging apps. Building a presence on a super app eliminates the need to compete for space and attention. Instead, super apps that have a built-in messaging experience are likely one of the most used apps among customers, enabling brands to grab their attention while they chat with family and friends daily.
• An all-in-app solution: Some super apps combine sales, marketing, and support efforts in one place, using robust features and technology to help brands find, attract, convert, and retain customers. Whether you want to set up targeted ads, immersive experiences, chatbot automation, in-app support, or product/service catalogs, super apps make it easy to streamline your entire customer journey.
• Improved customer engagement: Super apps make it easy for brands to set up engaging messaging experiences. Through rich media including images, videos, CTA buttons, 360-degree displays, and immersive technology, brands can showcase, demonstrate, and onboard customers in minutes. These features also offer more opportunities for personalization and real-time communication.
• Efficient and cost-effective communication: AI-powered chatbots have made it even easier for brands to introduce self-service models to customers. From answering frequently asked questions to completing entire processes such as reservations, policy renewals, insurance claims, refunds and returns, and more. Super apps enable you to offload repetitive, tedious tasks from staff so they can focus on more demanding tasks, while giving customers the click-and-go experiences they expect.
• Data insights and analytics: The interactions that take place on super apps provide valuable data to brands about customer behavior and preferences. When analyzed, this data can be used to improve segmentation and targeting that enhances campaign performance, or to identify areas of improvement for products or services.
• Scalability: Whether your business is growing regionally or globally, super apps can scale with you. Brands can easily integrate new features over time without any major developments, providing flexibility while eliminating unnecessary costs.

All in all, by consolidating multiple communication channels and systems into a single platform, super apps enable businesses to create a more personalized, engaging, efficient, and scalable communication strategy. 

5 Key features and functionalities of super apps

Super apps come in all shapes and sizes, so it’s important to find the one that fits your business goals. Here are a few key features and functionalities you should consider to ensure a successful implementation strategy:

Customer engagement tools

Whether your goal is to boost awareness, conversions, ROI, or loyalty, your super app should have engagement tools that make it easy to grab and keep customers’ attention. These can include:

• rich media capabilities that enable you to send and receive images, videos, documents, and other media types to enhance communication - especially for customer support or product recommendations.
• immersive technology that enables you to set up 360-degree displays and virtual try-ons for your products, increasing potential-to-buy and conversion rates. Viber Lenses are a good example of this, enabling users to add themed filters to their photos and videos through augmented reality.
• branded features and tools that help you stay top-of-mind and cut through the noise during peak seasons. Viber Gems, for example, give brands the opportunity to set up branded pop-up ads during national holidays and events that appear when a keyword is used in a chat.
• push notifications and alerts that make updates, replies, and promotional offers visible on users’ lock and home screens, boosting your re-engagement efforts.

Seamless payment options 

What makes super apps superior to regular messaging apps is the ability to build out a customer’s entire journey in one place. That’s why finding an app with integrated payment options can be a competitive advantage leading to more conversions and sales. 

Native payment gateways that support credit/debit cards, digital wallets, or bank transfers enable users to make payments directly in the app, without redirecting them to external websites. And if you want to minimize friction even further, look for one-click payment options that enable purchases within a single chat through the click of a button.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities

As much as we would like to be able to handle the vast majority of customer queries, marketing campaigns, and sales initiatives - it’s time-consuming and costly. Customers today expect around-the-clock support and always-on services that accommodate their busy schedules.

That’s why AI chatbots with natural language processing (NLP) capabilities are a must-have feature of any super app, if you plan to set up human-like responses that resonate with customers. 

Automated chatbots can handle common queries, direct customers to the right resources, or escalate issues to human agents when necessary. You can even create automated triggers based on customer actions and define customer responses based on your processes and workflows to improve efficiency.

Data privacy and security features

A recent survey in the UK showed that approximately 65% of consumers aged 25 to 54 were concerned about data privacy when interacting with brands digitally. That’s why using a super app that has enhanced security features is key to building customer loyalty and trust - and staying out of news headlines.

To ensure you meet the recommended security and privacy standards, look for a super app that offers:

• Compliance with regulations and adherence to global data protection standards, such as GDPR or CCPA, ensuring that customer information is managed securely and legally.
• Certifications that ensure data and payment security processes are in place, such as SOC 2 Type 2 and PCI Compliance.
• Secure connections through public servers that connect over HTTPS only, and communication with partner or customer servers is always SSL-encrypted.
• Encryption in transit for business messages and chatbot interactions which ensures a message is encrypted from the moment it is sent until it reaches the final destination.

Cross-platform integrations

The popularity of super apps and why brands should embrace them is primarily for their ability to streamline processes and help you work effectively and efficiently at a lower cost. 

To be able to realize these benefits, look for a super app that can integrate with your CRM or CDP, marketing automation platform, payment systems, or project management tools. This will help you use the customer interactions that happen within the super app to automatically create support tickets, process refunds, provide campaign results, and more - eliminating tedious tasks and enabling staff to focus on more rewarding tasks.

It’s also important to consider the nature of your business and which add-ons would help you reach your goals. For example, if you’re a retailer, you should consider having e-commerce and marketplace capabilities. Or if you’re a ride-hailing business, your customers should be able to use the app to book rides in just a few clicks.

Success stories: How brands use super apps

Although super apps might seem like a relatively new concept, brands around the world have already started implementing them into their communication strategies - and they’ve seen remarkable results. Here are a few examples:

Retail and eCommerce

Fanta, a major part of the Coca-Cola beverage portfolio, had a goal to attract the Gen Z audience and engage consumers with a creative and memorable digital-first experience. To do this, the brand launched a Viber Gems and Viber Lenses campaign. 

With Viber Gems, users would see a Fanta-branded carnival animation appear on the screen when they used carnival-related keywords in their chats. Simultaneously, they could add AR-powered filters to their photos and videos to celebrate the carnival season.

As a result, over 5.6M Fanta-branded Viber Gems were generated and over 256K Viber Lenses were tried on during the campaign period.

Example of using a super app in the retail and ecommerce industry

Banking and Finance

Raiffeisenbank, one of the largest banking groups in Central and Eastern Europe, wanted to interact with current and new customers in Serbia while providing an integrated digital experience. To do this, the bank created an animated “free & subscribe” Rakuten Viber sticker campaign and banking chatbot in the native language to provide high quality customer support.

As a result, 850K users were exposed to the Raiffeisenbank brand, with over 209K sticker packs downloaded and more than 120K chatbot subscribers recruited.

Cosmetics

Kiko Milano is an Italian cosmetics company that wanted to transform the beauty shopping experience by creating a smarter, more engaging way for consumers to interact with beauty products. 

The company enabled users to virtually try on different shades of Kiko Milano lipsticks using Viber Lenses. If they liked what they saw, they could click the “purchase” button to complete the purchase on Kiko Milano’s website. The campaign was a success with over 354K users trying on Kiko Milano Lenses, and a 12.7% capture rate.

Example of using a super app in the cosmetics industry

Healthcare

Podorozhnyk Pharmacy wanted to maximize customer engagement, improve customer experience, and generate more leads and revenue. Using targeted Viber Business Messages, they were able to bring users to their chatbot which collected feedback, shared polls and promotions, acted as a virtual loyalty card, and enabled customers to place orders for in-store pick-up. 

As a result, Podorozhnyk saw over 1 million chatbot subscribers within the first year of its campaign, and 50% of all online orders for pick up were placed via the chatbot.

The future of super apps

We are in the era of rapid technological advancements. In which, we can expect to see the rise of super apps and their capabilities expand to build an ecosystem of cross-platform integrations and seamless interactions. Here are a few trends and innovations to watch out for over the next few years:   

• Intelligent Automation: Advanced AI will drive automation in customer service, transactional workflows, and personalized messaging by proactively offering support or product suggestions before a customer asks.
• Embedded Finance: Super apps will increasingly provide embedded finance services, which allow users to access financial products without needing to leave the app. This could include digital wallets, savings accounts, insurance, investments, and even lending or credit products.
• Enhanced Shopping Experiences: With augmented reality (AR), super apps will allow customers to visualize products in real time, for example trying on clothes virtually - enhancing the shopping experience and driving conversions.
• Virtual Customer Support: Virtual Reality (VR) support could allow users to interact with customer service agents or virtual assistants in a more immersive, lifelike manner, improving engagement and service quality.
• Voice-First Interaction: As voice assistants, such as Siri and Alexa, become more integrated, super apps will increasingly rely on voice commands to perform transactions or provide services. Eventually, customers will be able to shop, pay bills, track deliveries, or ask for customer support—all through voice-enabled commands.

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