India's consumer startups are looking to make an app that fulfils needs like ecommerce, cab hailing and food delivery
The model for such 'superapps' has been WeChat which enjoys massive usage in China
Grab and GoJek are other famous super apps
Since early 2016, JustDial has been running an advertisement which features brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan at an airport where repetitive notifications of a fellow flyer’s phone disturb the superstar’s reverie. Bachchan takes the guy’s phone, deletes all his apps (bearing an uncanny resemblance to some of India’s most popular apps) downloads JustDial, and reassures the panicked flyer that the “super app” will be the only one he needs. From aggregating local business listings on audio calls to an app where one can buy movie and flight tickets, order food, watch TV shows, payments — JustDial’s big-budget foray into super app territory is one that many Indian startups are attempting to do as well. The growing list has one goal: make an app that makes people wonder how they ever lived without it.In May 2017, CNBC reported WeChat received on average 29% of all time spent on mobile devices in China. In comparison, the most used app in the US, was Facebook, that reached 19% of time spent on mobile phones. So naturally the question arises: Where are the Indian super apps?“I think 4-5 apps have the best chances of becoming super apps of India: Paytm, WhatsApp, Ola and Swiggy. They have recurring use cases,” Rajesh Sawhney, CEO and cofounder of InnerChef, a foodtech platform, and GSF Ventures told Inc42. “I believe in India, the winner would be an app that has the highest daily active users like BHIM, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger,” Sanjay Mehta, the founder of venture fund 100X.VC told Inc42. However, the idea is in a very early stage right now, he added.