Defining a Super App and Analyzing It from an Ecosystemic Perspective

Abstract

The creation of super apps is a recent development, establishing itself as the new pinnacle of increased technology and digital market participation in retail operations. It is primarily inspired by Chinese apps, open platforms where partners can create mini-applications and make them available to users. Although the rise of super apps is a widely disseminated phenomenon, there has been a lack of harmonization regarding the concept. Therefore, this paper aims to present a definition of the super app concept, analyzing how it consolidates the perspective oriented towards digital ecosystems. To this end, a systematic literature review was conducted, which included, at the end of the screening process, 26 scientific articles published in journals from the years 2018 to 2023. Following the analysis, a harmonized concept of super apps was achieved. Furthermore, it was observed that the concept is divided into two specific viewpoints, characterized by their geographical origin and the way these apps materialize digital ecosystems. These viewpoints support the perspective of DeSanctis and Poole (1994) and Schmitz et al. (2016) regarding the variability in technology appropriation processes, disciplined by the social context in which these artifacts are embedded.