Transportation as the Next Super App Frontier

With great apps come great responsibility. And while super apps seem poised to influence digital lifestyles in the coming years, there’s no consensus on how they will manifest.

Super apps are essentially apps that have the capability to provide diverse services from a massive ecosystem of developers that add to it. Mimicking the popularity of mobile phones, super apps aim to provide many different capabilities from within one platform for the sake of ease of use.

There’s no shortage of demand for super apps in the western world, especially given the popularity of super apps overseas. In fact, the market for super apps is expected to reach $426 billion by 2030, according to a report by Grand View Research. WeChat, AliPay, Revolut and Grab, among others, have established a strong presence in foreign markets to run the gamut of services including food delivery, travel booking, grocery shopping and digital payments.

Some optimism persists that the financial services industry could be the epicenter of the American super app boom. But, with all the regulatory pressures that banks face, the litany of security concerns and substantial dev investment required to spur the idea, it’s a tough sell. Modern, mobile-first financial services companies could make strides in this department, but they too face logistical challenges.

So, what’s the roadmap for super apps in the United States? Perhaps exactly that: the open road. Let’s explore three reasons why transportation and super apps are a match.

1. Transportation and apps both enable our daily routines.

It might not seem like your automobile and your calendar app have much in common. But what happens if one breaks? It can ruin your whole day.

Today’s vehicles, while rapidly evolving to the technology of today, largely still reflect a 20th century lifestyle. Vehicles can go from point A to point B, but they can do so much more than that — far beyond keeping up with K-pop hits on your streaming music service or warming your seat during the winter months. An automotive super app could facilitate more capabilities both via mobile phone and in the car dash itself.

Think about it like this: What activities does your car enable? How can they better enable those activities? For example, if you stop for a coffee on the way from point A to point B, your car’s participation often stops at the drive-thru window. But why should it? With the hazards of distracted driving a known problem, it would be far more convenient to be able to place an order — perhaps your usual order at your usual location — ahead of time. Perhaps, only when the car is not moving, it also notifies you when there’s a promotion going on. Or, it could log the caloric intake of your order for your fitness tracker. If you need to make a purchase, RF transmitters that most cars already contain could be used to process payments — no need to even dig out a payment instrument!

Mobile phones can account for some of these capabilities today, but often with separate apps that can’t safely be operated on the go. A vehicle-based super app that blends voice recognition and AI functionality would enable more seamless operation that helps facilitate our daily choices.

2. There’s so much downtime.

Is there anything worse than sitting in traffic? Not even those soothing daily affirmations will help ease the stress. In today’s high-productivity world, extra time spent in the car equals lost time that could be better spent preparing a meal, doing chores, completing work tasks or communicating with team members. That’s hours of lost time per year.

Voice-enabled super apps could give some of the power back to the consumer, enabling them to pay their bills, order groceries for pickup later, book travel for an upcoming trip or find a relevant waypoint, all without picking up their phone. It’s the perfect blend of convenience and versatility in situations that were otherwise productivity drains.

Let’s face it, your car and phone already know better than most inanimate objects where you’ve been. So, it’s not a stretch to suggest that one recommend another trip to the gym, a healthier takeout option or, if it prefers to enable your indulgences, a circuitous route to your destination that passes by your favorite bakery.

Remember too that super apps could materialize in transportation systems and products outside of your car. Perhaps mobile ride-share apps could evolve to meet alternative needs of passengers, everything from augmented reality experiences in the back seat to guided tours of a city. In fact, some ride-share apps are pushing in this direction. A transit system mobile app might provide context about the stops on the way to your location, enable you to pay fares in other cities, or compete against a fellow passenger in a game.

Again, mobile phones facilitate some of these capabilities, but it’s important to remember the point and promise of super apps — more adaptability and openness, less friction and context switching. And just because you’re out of the car doesn’t mean you have to stop using the super app, as the mobile platform gives users all the same capabilities, if not more.

3. Car maintenance and operation.

If only super apps could alleviate the dreaded task of vehicle maintenance. Well, your car might still require oil changes, but perhaps super apps might make them more tolerable.

Consider how you deal with car maintenance today. Maybe you consult the sticker in the top-left of the windshield to alert yourself to the need for an oil change. How analog! Even if your in-car system does alert you to the condition of your oil (or any system to be maintained), there’s always a better way to approach the task. A developer might create functionality to alert you in-car periodically about recommended maintenance, perhaps crowdsourcing auto mechanic locations from other owners of the same make and model. Another developer might create functionality that compiles reviews, prices and nearby food or entertainment locations near that auto shop while you wait for maintenance.

Self-driving cars might enable even more functionality depending on how the world adapts to support these vehicles. Developer functionality could better inform the cars about traffic patterns or neighborhood amenities, or provide additional driver and passenger functionality — with safety being a priority, of course.

However super apps manifest, Applause is here to help validate these experiences in the real world — that means real users in real locations with real devices, including real vehicles. Our million-strong global community helps you augment and scale internal digital quality initiatives to cover gaps you can’t simulate, helping ensure digital experiences work to their full potential. Contact us today to discuss the possibilities.