September 25, 2025
Super Apps as a Pathway to Global Growth
Super Apps are quickly gaining traction globally. Combining shopping, banking, messaging, and more into seamless mobile experiences, they are reshaping how consumers live, engage, and transact. Particularly in mobile-first environments.
At the same time, global economic shifts, including rising tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty, and growth plateaus in traditional markets, are prompting brands to explore opportunities in new markets.
A pattern is emerging, with mobile-first businesses pushing to expand beyond their home turf, not just for growth but to reduce exposure to risk.
Sue Azari, eCommerce Industry Consultant at AppsFlyer notes we are seeing an intersection, with brands increasingly entering new regions through mobile channels, especially in places where Super Apps have already taken hold.
And for good reason. Mobile apps offer a fast, scalable way to reach new audiences, particularly where mobile commerce dominates.
Beyond an Existing Base
Internationalisation is no longer just a growth strategy, but a necessity. As trade restrictions increase and supply chains become more fragile, relying on a single market creates vulnerability. Regulatory shifts, currency swings, and platform volatility can all impact performance overnight.
Recent advertising patterns make this clear. In response to new U.S. tariffs, platforms like Temu and Shein have adjusted their strategies by pulling back ad spend in the U.S. and ramping up investment in other regions.
Expanding into new regions spreads that risk and opens access to mobile-first populations with advanced digital behaviours. In these markets, localising an app experience is one of the fastest and most effective ways to test, learn, and scale.
The benefits are growth through diversification, reaching new audiences, unlocking cultural insights, and building relevance beyond an existing market base.
The Importance of Apps Localisation
In many high-growth regions, including Southeast Asia, Latin America, and South Asia, Super Apps are not just part CX. They are the CX. These platforms function as commerce, payment, and engagement ecosystems within a single app.
Even in markets that are yet to fully embrace Super Apps, platforms are increasingly bundling services and moving toward more integrated, mobile-first CX. For brands, this represents an opportunity to meet users where their digital lives are already converging and to shape that convergence in new regions.
Uber is a prime example of this evolution. It has moved far beyond ride-hailing to offer food delivery, groceries, freight, and even financial services — all within a single interface. This expansion has helped power its advertising business to surpass $1 billion in 2023.
For brands looking to expand internationally, these platforms offer direct access to engaged, mobile-native audiences. But success takes more than presence. It requires thoughtful localisation aligned with local preferences, payment behaviour, and platform expectations. But when brands get this right, they can scale faster and more sustainably across markets.
Measurement is A Strategic Imperative
As Super Apps bring together commerce, content, communication, and payments, they create both a challenge and an opportunity for measurement. The customer journey experience becomes more consolidated but also more complex, following the new rules of retail.
Traditional attribution models often fall short when interactions span multiple functions within one app environment.
At the same time, these platforms offer something rare. Because users stay logged in and conduct a wide range of activities within a single ecosystem, Super Apps create a unified stream of high-quality, first-party data. When managed responsibly, this data can offer brands a richer, more accurate understanding of what drives performance across the entire customer lifecycle.
But this opportunity requires a shift in how measurement is approached. Brands need to move beyond fragmented analytics and build a framework that accounts for the full breadth of user behaviour. For marketers operating inside Super Apps, measurement is no longer a technical task. It is a strategic imperative.
Localise With Purpose
Super Apps are not just a trend. They are becoming the infrastructure for mobile-first economies and the entry point to digital life in many parts of the world. At the same time, internationalisation is accelerating as brands seek new revenue, new users, and greater resilience.
Those brands that succeed will not just be available in a single region. They will localise with purpose, measure with precision, and deliver CX value within the platform itself.
