Super Apps Have Potential to Unlock $3.2T in Annual Consumer Spending

Millions of consumers — and potentially hundreds of millions of them — are at the ready. They have their devices in hand, waiting for the right moment, eager to embrace the super app right out of the gate.

According to PYMNTS’ report “The Super App Shift: How Consumers Want to Save, Shop and Spend in the Connected Economy,” done in collaboration with PayPal, as many as 98 million consumers, extrapolated from the nearly 10,000 individuals we surveyed across Australia, Germany the United Kingdom and the United States, would embrace a super app immediately upon release — as in the very day it debuts.

Get the report: How Consumers Want to Save, Shop and Spend in the Connected Economy

In broad strokes, a super app exists as a single user interface through which consumers can conduct all manner of activities across a broad continuum — from shopping to banking to ride-hailing to getting groceries. If there’s a transaction or online interaction involved, then conceivably, it can be done through this single point of contact.

An Increasing Awareness

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of what super apps can do for them, and they are seemingly ready to get going, as it were.

Overall, approximately one-quarter of PYMNTS’ sample stated they were “very” or “extremely” interested in a super app. The U.S. leads, with 28% stating they were “very” interested, followed up by Germany at 20% of consumers claiming a similar level of interest.

Less than a third of all respondents stated they were “not at all” interested in super apps, which implies, then, that two-thirds of consumers are pre-disposed to have their imaginations captured by super apps, to assign some of their daily tasks to the platforms and the digital front doors that can be accessed via apps.

Indeed, with a bit more granular insight into specific verticals, about 41% of consumers would increase their banking activities if they had access to a super app.

All of this points to a greenfield opportunity for providers, but a challenge too. They’ve got to get things right before they even come to market with the super app. As the old commercial states, you do not get a second chance to make a first impression.

As for the “Day One” readiness, and the potential bonanza for the companies that get it right, the chart below depicts the total yearly spending of the consumers, country by country, which translates to $3.2 trillion annually.

To get it right, the providers must emphasize speed, security and convenience — and in doing so, the connected economy becomes ever-more firmly entrenched.