Super Apps, Super Wallets, and Everything Apps

Smartphones have become an integral part of everyday life by connecting digital and physical activities. Over time, millions of single-purpose apps have emerged, which has increased complexity for users and contributed to app fatigue. At the same time, a growing number of firms have developed into popular multi-purpose applications, commonly referred to as super apps. Prominent examples such as WeChat, KakaoTalk, LINE, and Grab integrate services including messaging, payment, shopping, transport, and other functionalities within a single platform. Despite their growing relevance, research on super apps remains limited. There is little clarity regarding the different types and definitions of super apps. To address this gap, we compiled a comprehensive dataset of 224 super app providers. Based on latent class analysis (LCA), we develop a typology of super apps according to their service integration patterns: 1) Golden Super Apps, 2) Super Wallets, 3) Everything Apps, and 4) Niche Super Apps. We further show that these categories differ substantially with respect to firm age, firm size, regional origin, platform type, and core service focus. Building on this empirical analysis, we also develop testable research propositions regarding super app development trajectories, which are summarized in a conceptual model. Overall, the findings contribute to a clearer understanding of super apps and provide a structured foundation for future research on this increasingly important phenomenon.