Tag: Super app

Singapore – Asian smart living management system Habitap announced a strategic partnership with real estate company JLL to curate a super-app that provides a smart building experience with a range of smart functionalities for JLL’s clients. 

Powered by Habitap, the super app called ‘COMPASS SG’ allows JLL clients access to a wide range of control and management over their smart households, as well as avail other features such as security and building services. 

The COMPASS SG app is fully customisable based on each clients’ individual needs, allowing for a fully integrated, connected tenant experience programme that combines technology, tenant experience and community features. In addition, this app includes a real-time access control management portal that allows tenants to track important building information.

Various visitor access options are also available to allow tenants to manage their visitors more efficiently. For example, they can register through facial recognition, HID Mobile Access or a QR code sent to them before their visit and or via a kiosk powered by Habitap. Other features include wayfinding, electronic lockers, and car park management tools. 

The app further provides access to real-time data, giving greater security and control over their facilities. Tenants can also apply for building and maintenance services as well as send circulars, push notifications, and emergency broadcasts. Furthermore, the smart concierge feature, facility booking, and Building Management System integration feature automates administrative tasks for the clients so that they can focus on running their businesses.

Additionally, the community functions of the app enable tenants to easily offer promotions and news to their customers, as well as a more efficient way for users to sign up for upcoming events and redemption of vouchers, allowing for better capability to drive promotions and to engage the community.

Commenting on the partnership, Franklin Tang, founder and CEO of Habitap, said, “We are thrilled to partner with JLL – a trusted global name in the commercial real estate industry. Habitap’s goal has always been focused on helping organizations transform through vision and technology to ultimately enable people to experience a Smart Living lifestyle.”

Meanwhile, Derek Soh, executive director of JLL, said, “We are excited to be working with Habitap, whose commitment to delivering experiential real estate solutions mirrors our own. Our partnership with Habitap is a testament to our dedication to providing the best-in-class, innovative solutions that drive our clients’ experiences to the next level.”

As part of the partnership, JLL has already rolled out the app in one commercial building in Singapore and will progressively implement it in more buildings by the fourth quarter of 2023.

Singapore – One of Southeast Asia’s leading super app, Grab, has announced new in-app travel innovations and partnerships to provide travellers a safe, seamless, and hyperlocal experience as the region embraces a travel comeback. 

According to Grab, the enhanced travel experience was designed to give all travellers the assurance and confidence to explore their destination by empowering them to plan ahead, get a smooth ride the moment they touch down, and experience their destination like a local.

The new app enhancements include the new Traveller homepage, which allows overseas travellers to explore a city within the Grab app as if they were at the destination. Available for 33 of the top cities tourists visit in Southeast Asia, users can check out the Grab services present in the city, search and save places of interest, and explore the food options near their destination.

The app was also made available in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese languages to deliver a more intuitive experience for travellers from China, Korea, and Japan.

In the second half of the year, Grab will also release translated merchant menus in key cities across Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand into English, as well as a currency converter feature that will automatically display fares in travellers’ preferred local currency so that they don’t have to do manual conversions.

For travellers who prefer not to download another app, Grab has also teamed up with some of the world’s most popular apps such as WeChat, AliPay, Ctrip, Kakao T, Booking.com, and Uber to provide travellers visiting the region access to Grab’s ride-hailing services through these platforms.

“We want to be at the forefront of Southeast Asia’s travel revival, welcoming travellers back to the region with an enhanced Grab experience that is designed to help them travel with ease and peace of mind,” said Russell Cohen, group managing director of operations at Grab. 

He added, “No one knows Southeast Asia like we do, and our goal is not only to deliver the safest and most seamless mobility experience, but also encourage travellers to explore the richness of Southeast Asia like a local through our superapp offerings.”

In support of the revival of travel, Grab also announced new upgrades to its GrabUnlimited subscription package, giving its subscribers access to discounted airport rides at 89 airports across Southeast Asia.

Singapore – Super apps – mobile applications that can offer multiple services within a single app – are here to stay, with around 51% of Singaporeans reported to have used them at least a couple of times every week. This is according to the latest data from Qualtrics, with support from SAP and Center for Experience Management in Singapore.

According to the data, the most frequent use cases are shopping for general items, buying groceries, ordering food and ride-hail services, paying for items in-store, and arranging for items to be delivered. 

In terms of which super app features are mostly used, digital wallets come out on top. Around 59% of respondents said they have used a digital wallet to make a physical purchase in the last 12 months, and 64% said they intend to use a super app to make a physical purchase in the next six months.

Meanwhile, it is also revealed that consumers have less intent to use a super app for listening to music, messaging friends, playing games, and buying insurance.

When it comes to factors that would increase super app usage, feedback suggests overcoming consumers’ concerns with privacy and security is one of the main areas to address. The study also revealed that consumers are looking for improvements in mobile app ease of use and payment options, across many of the brands and apps that they interact with.

“Equipped with the right customer insights, brands can tailor how they deliver services via super apps to ensure this new channel complements their customer experience for the people that are using them, while maximising the investments they’re making in the space. And simultaneously, by knowing what customers aren’t using super apps, organisations can take important action to ensure no-one is left behind by the change underway,” the research noted.

Thailand – Robinhood, a Bangkok-based food delivery and all-in-one travel service platform under SCBX Group, Purple Ventures Co., Ltd., has announced a multi-year strategic alliance with Google Cloud and MFEC Public Company Limited (MFEC) to advance its mission of building a homegrown super app that delivers inclusive growth opportunities to small business owners, delivery riders, and diverse users in metro and non-metro areas. Robinhood had already started planning late last year.

A super app is basically a unified app that has everything a person needs. This includes ride-hailing services, food delivery, payment wallets, flight and accommodation bookings, groceries, and many more. Currently, there are over a dozen super apps in Southeast Asia, each with its unique offering apart from integrating the other services that are offered in the app. In Thailand, super apps are available for consumers as well. However, there still isn’t a homegrown super app. The current super apps available in the country are from enterprises that have a strong business presence in the country.

April Srivikorn, country manager, Thailand at Google Cloud, pointed out that pandemic-driven shifts in consumer behaviour are expected to have a lasting impact, with food and transport, e-commerce, online travel, and digital financial services the key growth verticals in a resurgent internet economy that’s set to be worth US$57 billion by 2025.

Adopting a zero-commissions stance to give small businesses and riders a larger share of earnings, Robinhood was launched to alleviate the financial hardships faced by local food and beverage operators during the height of the pandemic and support the local tourism sector’s economic recovery. The three organizations will join forces to strengthen Robinhood’s culture of innovation, modernize its IT infrastructure, elevate user experiences using data-driven intelligence, and co-create new digital services.

According to Thana Thienachariya, chairman of the board at Purple Ventures, Robinhood’s differentiated business model enables them to generate revenue from other independent services, such as providing loans to individuals in their ecosystem, instead of charging smaller restaurants and hoteliers platform fees that erode their earning.

Thienachariya added, “With a fleet of 30,000 riders supporting 225,000 eateries, and 16,000 hotels already listed on our platform, Robinhood has become the food and travel application of choice for 2.8 million users. Together with Google Cloud and MFEC, we hope to build on the very warm response to our platform in the past 20 months and supercharge our expansion into the tour, car rental, flight bookings, and grocery and express parcel delivery services. This super app vision is an extension of our steadfast commitment toward assisting smaller players and revitalizing the grassroots economy.”

On the partnership with Google, Srihanath Lamsam, CEO of Purple Ventures, shared, that this was due to Google’s superior data cloud infrastructure which runs with net-zero operational emissions, and its rich experience in mapping the world and building open platforms and ecosystems. These capabilities, along with MFEC’s technical consulting and implementation expertise, will amplify Robinhood’s ability to create value for society, while contributing to our sustainability commitments.

The strategic alliance will encompass five core pillars including: 

  • Cultivating skilled talent and a culture of innovation – the three companies will establish a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) consisting of cloud architecture, data management, and application modernization specialists.
  • Enhancing the quality of digital services – the CCoE will tap microservices and extended Google Play Store support to ensure Robinhood’s customer and rider applications remain robust, reliable, and lightweight – even as new services are added and accessed by a high volume of users.
  • Serving hyper-personalized user engagement – the CCoE will build and manage an intelligent data engine using Google Cloud’s leading analytics, AI, and ML technologies. The data engine will also engage Robinhood users with hyper-personalized product recommendations on behalf of small businesses, to boost these merchants’ revenue streams.
  • Increasing income opportunities for riders – Robinhood will explore using Google Maps Platform’s software development kits to fast-track the creation and integration of on-demand mobility features. Potential use cases include providing riders with in-app, turn-by-turn navigation after identifying the shortest or fastest routes, so they can ride safer, fulfil orders quicker, and earn more.
  • Making financial assistance easily accessible – Robinhood will explore co-innovation initiatives with Google Cloud to embed virtual banking and microlending services into its application. This would allow small business owners to seamlessly apply for financial assistance to purchase new equipment and hire staff, or for prospective delivery riders to rent electric motorcycles.

Meanwhile, Siriwat Vongjarukorn, CEO and President, MFEC, commented, “With our newly formed CCoE imparting critical cloud skills, adopting an open cloud architecture, implementing data governance best practices, and automating application deployment, Robinhood can achieve performance at scale, optimize IT costs, uphold the highest data security and privacy standards, and empower its developers to release continuous software updates – without downtime – to enrich its entire digital ecosystem.” 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The list of airlines available on the airasia Super App’s Online Travel Agent (OTA) platform continues to grow as Air New Zealand become the latest airline to authorise the sale of its flights on the region’s growing super app. 

Through this commercial collaboration, Air New Zealand’s flights will be available under the ‘Flights’ section of the airasia Super App, aimed at bringing the authentic Kiwi experience to everyone and connecting travellers to discover over 20 New Zealand destinations such as Auckland, Queenstown, Christchurch and more. With its innovative ideas, onboard products, aeronautical design, brand identity and customer service, Air New Zealand has won numerous awards, most recently crowned the World’s Safest Airline 2022 by AirlineRatings.com.

Amanda Woo, CEO of airasia Super App said, “The airasia Super App is a robust and complete OTA platform which is underpinned by a wealth of data that we have gathered over the past two decades, making it the perfect marketplace for airlines around the world to reach the right target audience. Since our completion as a full-fledged OTA in October last year, we have been observing double digit growth month-on-month for bookings of other airlines through our OTA platform.” 

“We would like to welcome Air New Zealand onto our OTA platform, and we look forward to providing all travellers with the best deals with our airline partners through the airasia Super App,” Woo added.

General Manager Asia of Air New Zealand, Jonathan Zhang, commented “With borders reopening, we are excited to welcome back international travellers onboard Air New Zealand through the airasia Super App platform. We continue to offer wide choices, flexibility and our unique Kiwi experience for our customers to fly comfortably and confidently.”

Aside from Air New Zealand, the airasia Super App OTA platform also includes over 700 other airline partners, such as, Air Canada, Air France, Air Mauritius, BQatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, and Philippine Airlines, amongst others.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – Indonesia super-app has inked a strategic partnership with Vietnamese e-wallet MoMo, entailing MoMo to be integrated in the Gojek super-app in the local market. 

Through the partnership, Gojek and MoMo will combine their technological strengths and large ecosystems to jointly raise the level of use of cashless payment methods among Vietnamese people, and at the same time provide a better customer experience.

MoMo will support Gojek’s ecosystem of millions of users who are using online technology ride-hailing services such as GoRide, GoCar, and online food delivery GoFood. This then gives Gojek customers the option to pay via MoMo’s e-wallet in addition to credit, debit and cash payments.

Gojek will have the opportunity to reach out to MoMo’s ecosystem of more than 31 million users, and at the same time meet the growing demand of customers who want more payment options on the app, especially the use of contactless payments amid the COVID-19.

Speaking about the partnership, Nguyen Ba Diep, co-founder and vice president at MoMo, said, “I firmly believe that this partnership will bring optimal payment options and experience. for users. With this cooperation, we hope to partly help technology drivers and partners of Gojek and MoMo to reach more customers, increase sales and quickly recover from the pandemic.”

Meanwhile, Pham Huu Thanh, operations director of payments division at Gojek Vietnam, commented, “Through the integration of MoMo e-wallet on the Gojek application, our users will have more choices when paying for services, thus having a smoother, more convenient, and safer experience when paying for services. use Gojek. Together with MoMo, we are delighted to continue to contribute to the promotion of cashless payments in Vietnam, by influencing to change user habits and constantly expanding the payment ecosystem.”

Manila, Philippines – Enstack, an SME superapp, has launched in beta in the Philippines late in February, and after only two weeks, announces its strong entry in the market with over 10,000 merchants signing up on the platform. 

Enstack as an SME superapp provides entrepreneurs with all operational, logistical, and financial tools they need in a single platform. On Enstack, businesses can accept orders from customers over the phone, in person, and online via its Chat Store. With the Chat Store, merchants can automatically receive orders via their Facebook Messenger accounts, without replying to each message, and directly fulfil them using the Enstack app. 

SMEs can also offer customers multiple payment options and ship packages with integrated logistics providers directly from the app. Other management tools include sales and expenses recording, inventory management, and analytics. 

Behind Enstack is Oriente, which has provided Filipinos access to credit through their Shop Now, Pay Later services. With Enstack, it expands its focus on Southeast Asian SMEs. 

“After supporting the biggest merchants through our digital credit services, we now want to optimize the smallest of businesses so they can keep up with the rise in digital consumers. After seeing the swift growth and adoption of our free easy-to-use superapp, driven purely by word-of-mouth, we know we’ve created a game-changer with Enstack,” shared Geoffrey Prentice, co-founder of Oriente. 

“We’re glad to see our initial group of over 10,000 SMEs, led by merchants in food and beverage, feel empowered as they take their first step towards digitization so they can be more efficient, profitable, and thrive in today’s economy,” adds Prentice.

Enstack is available in the Philippines and Vietnam and is set to launch in other Southeast Asian countries in the next 18 months. It is free to download on the App Store and Google Play.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – BIG Rewards, AirAsia’s lifestyle rewards program, will now be integrated into the airasia Super App family; to now be called airasia rewards. It would be recalled that the rewards program even underwent a rebranding at the start of 2020, coming from previous name, ‘BIGLIFE’.

The brand new move will merge all features from the previous BIG Rewards app to be available within the airasia Super App. Users can now expect a more seamless app experience, now eliminating the need to have two separate apps for earning and spending their reward points.

With the new integration, all user details and remaining points will be merged into the Super App and be renamed as airasia points. The loyalty rewards points will now be the digital loyalty currency that can be used throughout the entire Super App ecosystem. 

Amanda Woo, CEO of airasia Super App, said that the airasia Super App has now become a way of life, and its enhancement is in line with the airline’s core value of providing value and best deals to flight passengers and everyday app users.

“We are proud to see a phenomenal growth of airasia Super App in recent years since its launch in October 2020. With our digital businesses that include nearly 20 travel, delivery, and lifestyle offerings, we have successfully transformed into a data and tech-driven company, even being recognized as one of the three ASEAN Unicorns based in Malaysia by a Credit Suisse report,” said Woo.

She adds, “[It’s] not just for users; the addition of airasia rewards will spark new and exciting collaboration opportunities with our flight and hotel partners, merchants, and even riders. In return, our app users will benefit greatly from better deals and different ways to redeem their airasia points.”

Ong Wai Fong, chief loyalty officer, shared that the app integration has 3-pronged benefits for members, partners, and businesses. 

“Members will be able to enjoy more deals and promos in the Super App, while conveniently earning airasia points for every transaction and using points to pay for their orders. Partners, on the other hand, will have wider access to the millions of Super App users to boost sales and grow their businesses with us. These in return will enhance our data and help us design better products to increase member stickiness and transform it into enduring customer loyalty,” shared Ong Wai Fong.

To celebrate the integration, from 16 to 20 December 2021, airasia rewards is giving app users up to 20X airasia points for every purchase they make on the airasia Super App. App users who book or purchase flights, hotels, SNAP, food, grocery, and duty-free items using their airasia points will be able to enjoy a special redemption promotion of 50 points to RM1, whose normal rate is 125 points to RM1, during the promo period as well. 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Airasia has announced first-ever ‘Super Sale’ this year, offering shoppers more deals and discounts in the airasia super app from 5 to 11 April 2021.

Throughout the ‘Super Sale’ period, shoppers can enjoy up to 70% off on products such as fresh produce, groceries, and food deliveries to lifestyle products, as well as Muslim-friendly services, and health and wellness packages on airasia’s super app or airasia.com. 

Karen Chan, the CEO of airasia’s super app, said that they have aggressively expanded their super app offerings during the first quarter of the year with the launch of airasia shop in the Philippines and airasia food in Singapore, and more to follow in other ASEAN cities. 

“We have expanded our portfolio of brands and merchants allowing us to offer customers a bigger variety of products at a greater value. From having biryani rice to beauty products delivered to your doorstep, we hope everyone will have an enjoyable experience shopping on our airasia super app during the Super Sale,” added Chan.

During the ‘Super Sale’, deals will include up to 50% off selected merchants on airasia food, 20% off for Santan Cafe storewide via delivery on airasia food, and up to 60% off selected items on airasia fresh, as well as up to 70% off on airasia shop with delivery fees as low as RM0.99 using the promo code ‘99DEL’.

Airsia guests can also enjoy up to 60% off hotels on their next staycation and earn five times more BIG Points for their booking, while on airasia health, guests can book a one-year dental care package for as low as RM999. 

Meanwhile, IKHLAS, the Muslim-friendly digital business unit, is also offering 10% off for all products. Shoppers on this platform can also earn 1 BIG Point for each RM1 spent.

BIG members also have the option of paying using BIG Points, while BigPay users can use ‘One-Click’ immediate checkout using the BigPay card.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Now that vaccination efforts are fast developing in the region, AirAsia has readied itself to welcome travelers with open arms when travel restrictions further ease with the launch of ASEAN Unlimited, a new product that would offer unlimited travel as well as free e-commerce delivery on its Asean super app for Malaysia-based AirAsia BIG members. 

The users can enjoy unlimited flights to destinations within Malaysia, which include Alor Setar, Langkawi, Penang, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, and Johor Bahru. They can also opt to travel around ASEAN countries – Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.

By purchasing ASEAN Unlimited, consumers can also enjoy unlimited free delivery for every order made on AirAsia Shop, Fresh, and Food, which is available until 26 March 2022 for deliveries in the Klang Valley with more locations in the future.

The pass is priced at RM599 and is available to purchase on airasia.com/deals or the airasia ASEAN super app from 3 March (1000hrs MYT) to 7 March 2021 (2359h MYT). BigPay users will enjoy RM50 off their purchase when they pay with BigPay until 5 March 2021.

AirAsia has also extended the travel period of its previous AirAsia Unlimited Pass Cuti-Cuti Malaysia from 31 March to 30 June 2021. Launched in June 2020, the AirAsia Unlimited Pass Cuti-Cuti Malaysia, which costs RM399, allows pass holders to redeem unlimited flights (flight code AK) within Malaysia.

Furthermore, the AirAsia X Unlimited Pass and AirAsia Unlimited Pass Cuti-Cuti Malaysia pass holders are also entitled to Unlimited Free Delivery on airasia shop, food, and fresh until 30 June 2021.

CEO of AirAsia Group Tony Fernandes commented that they have always been a disruptor and this time they are taking another unprecedented step to launch ASEAN Unlimited, as Airasia has expanded into a super app, offering much more than just travel products, e-commerce, and fintech products. AirAsia has received many positive responses and support on their new offerings, and they want to continue providing value to the customers.

“With positive developments on COVID-19 vaccination across the region, we are revving up our engines to ensure a smooth take-off when travel returns. As part of our preparations to welcome the recovery of air travel in the region and to further stimulate the local economy, we hope that this product can also catalyze as the ASEAN tourism industry gears itself for a post-Covid revival,” said Fernandes.

Meanwhile, the CEO of airasia.com Karen Chan said that they are thrilled by the highly positive response when Airasia Unlimited’s buy-now-travel-later pass was introduced in 2020.

“This time, we are offering even greater value to our customers by allowing ASEAN Unlimited pass-holders to redeem unlimited flights both domestically within Malaysia and internationally across ASEAN (when borders reopen on flight code AK) for future travel from 17 March 2021 up to 26 March 2022, subject to availability of flights. Aside from flights, pass-holders will also have unlimited access to free delivery services across the airasia shop, airasia food, and airasia fresh. Delivery is currently available within the Klang Valley with upcoming expansion into more cities across Malaysia,” added Chan.