PUBLISHED DATE: 2025-08-24 21:43:42

November 2023

The Thailand SUPERAPP Opportunity for Growth

The Rise of the SUPERAPP Economy in Thailand

In recent years, Thailand has witnessed the rapid rise of the SUPERAPP economy. SUPERAPPs are mobile applications that provide a wide range of services and solutions to users, all within a single platform. These apps have gained immense popularity among Thai consumers. The country boasts high internet penetration of 90% and a strong position in digitization, with the rise of gaming, live streaming, and digital banks. Thailand is at a strategic advantage to capitalize on the SUPERAPP opportunity, supported by the tech-first mindset of conglomerates such as CP Group, PTT Global, True Corp, and Central Group.

SUPERAPPs can create connected journeys and orchestrate experiences that drive convenience, efficiency, and the ability to meet multiple needs. They force companies to expand their distribution channels beyond their core business offering. By embracing this shift and adapting to the changing landscape, companies can embed themselves in their customers’ entire life journey and foster continuous growth.

Key Facts:

SUPERAPPs: The New Face of Embedded Ecosystems

The success of SUPERAPPs is derived from their role as platforms allowing multiple unrelated services—often also provided by third parties—to live within a single ecosystem. Deep-pocketed mega companies such as conglomerates or mass-adopted digital platforms can launch their own SUPERAPP; small- to medium-sized firms usually aim to integrate into third-party apps.

SUPERAPPs thrive when they become embedded in a customer’s daily life. For example, GRAB successfully transformed from its humble beginnings as an online taxi booking service to a powerful ecosystem that includes ride hailing, food delivery, loans, insurance, payments, and investments.

SUPERAPPs offer enterprises in Thailand the opportunity to create simple, linear customer journeys that can be completed without multiple apps, browser sites, or repeatedly inputting personal details. Seamless journeys like these will immensely enhance customer experience and drive efficiency value. They increase the propensity to purchase, deliver higher basket values, and reduce drop-out rates. Enterprises can achieve greater customer lifetime value through sustained loyalty and engagement.

Examples of SUPERAPPs:

Top 3 Companies Acing the SUPERAPP Model in Asia:

Key Drivers for Enterprises to Build a SUPERAPP:

Drivers of SUPERAPP Success:

Unlocking the SUPERAPP Opportunity in Thailand

Thailand owns nearly 1/5th of the Southeast Asia (SEA) digital economy.

Overall Digital Economy, 2022-2025, GMV (US$ bn):

Digital Services Consumer Penetration Spurs Economic Growth

The Rise of Integrated Services Through Digital Platforms

Benchmarking Top SUPERAPPs in Thailand

Opportunities of SUPERAPPs in Thailand (2023):

Benchmarking Top SUPERAPPs in Thailand:

Reimagining the Future SUPERAPP Growth Opportunity:

Growth Imperatives to Run Successful SUPERAPPs

The Publicis Sapient Approach to Establish a Successful SUPERAPP

  1. Identifying a Winning Proposition with Strong Product-Market Fit and a Viable Business Model
    • Establish commercial objectives (growth, market share protection, diversification), target client segments, partner landscape and approach, economic model, and regulatory approach.
    • Understand the priorities of potential partners and the value extracted by each partner in the transaction process, as it impacts the economic model.
    • Create a product development model that recognizes and accommodates the needs of customers, partners, and the company itself.
    • Identify platform capability and architecture to define key components and decide what to build, buy, or reuse to shape underlying technology.
  2. Define the Path to Create an MVP Through Internal Expertise and Collaborative Partnerships, and Swiftly Test in the Market
    • Adopt a holistic, customer-centric approach that connects different touchpoints across the customer journey, creating a seamless and integrated experience.
    • Embrace an iterative approach to MVP development, rapidly prototyping and testing ideas to gather feedback and make improvements.
    • Incorporate partner and customer feedback early in the process to ensure the proposition remains relevant during development and testing.
    • Optimize the customer journey by proactively identifying pain points and friction through data-driven insights while delivering maximum value.
  3. Craft an AI and ML-Driven Experience Tailored to User Preferences
    • Understand customer behavior and preferences to create better personalized recommendations and services, increasing engagement and loyalty.
    • Analyze data and track customer purchase history, browsing behavior, search queries, and other metrics to gain valuable information about customer needs and preferences.
    • Build hyper-personalized recommendation systems by predicting customer consumption patterns and analyzing customer activity.

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About Publicis Sapient

Publicis Sapient is a digital business transformation company. We partner with global organizations to help them create and sustain competitive advantage in a world that is increasingly digital.

We operate through our expert SPEED capabilities: Strategy and Consulting, Product, Experience, Engineering, and Data. Combined with our culture of curiosity and deep industry knowledge, this enables us to deliver meaningful impact to our clients’ businesses by reimagining the products and experiences their customers truly value.

Our agile, data-driven approach equips our clients’ businesses for change, making digital the core of how they think and what they do. Publicis Sapient is the digital business transformation hub of Publicis Groupe, with 20,000 people and over 50 offices worldwide.

For more information, visit publicissapient.com