How do Web3 consumer apps provide the better user experience?
The previous article, “Web3 Consumer App, Challenging but important.” explained the importance of app development for the mass adoption of blockchain and Web3. It emphasized that the Consumer App sector, which provides services directly to consumers, would be a important role in driving the mainstream adoption of Web3. In this article, I would like to explain how Web3 Consumer Apps differ from traditional apps and explore some notable consumer projects. Additionally, I will break down how these projects leverage blockchain technology.
Web2 Consumer App vs Web3 Consumer App
Before looking around the Consumer App projects in Web3, let’s first provide a brief definition of Consumer Apps. When searching for Consumer Apps on Google, they are generally referred to as mobile application services targeting B2C. In Web2, Big tech company created Consumer Apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Uber, etc. Consumer Apps in Web2 offer services to general users in various domains like social media, music, mobility, and more. One notable characteristic is that anyone, regardless of specialized knowledge, can use these services with just a mobile device.
What about Web3? In Web3, these apps often have different names. For instance, SocialFi is new paradigm of Social Media and X2E is a new name of Reward Apps. In Web3, new names are emerging to align with innovative business models and services. However Consumer Apps in Web3 same as Web2 also refer to mobile application services targeting B2C in these business models.
As seen in the photo above, even if a service is launched targeting B2C, Consumer Apps in Web3 have not yet achieved the same level of recognition as the representative services in Web2. Because almost every DApps is based on web, so mobile app development ecosystem is relatively less mature. Beside, Web3 is still on the way of finding sustainable business models. Nevertheless, there are projects in Web3 that have provided significant insights into the development of Consumer Apps — Stepn, KAIKAI, and Friend.Tech.
Stepn — Setting the Standard for Web3 Mobile App Services
Stepn, launched in March 2022, is a Move to Earn (M2E) service based on Solana, setting the standard for UX in Web3-based mobile app services and popularizing the M2E concept.
Stepn is a reward app where users purchase NFT sneakers called Sneakers, wear them while walking, and receive tokens as rewards. It is simple and clear. The key difference from traditional reward apps is that users can convert these rewards into cash and they can trade the game items to gain extra profits. In other words, while conventional step-counting reward apps allowed users to convert earned points only into gift cards or vouchers within the service, Stepn users can cash out earned tokens and it appealed to a lots of reward app users. In May 2022, Stepn reached 700K MAU and it was an unprecedented achievement.
There was three reasons that Stepn could gain larger user base than other DApp — 1) Walking — easy and high accessible contents 2) Easy wallet creation and mobile-friendly UX, and 3) significantly higher profitability compared to traditional reward apps.
However, high profits can easily acquire users but it also means that users always willing to leave when their profits are declined. You can directly find out recent number of new users are less than 10. Thus, contents that can create other user value than profits are so important to make sustainable services.
KAIKAI — A Representative Case of Web3 Payment Infrastructure Utilization
The second project is a commerce platform called KAIKAI. KAIKAI built payment and reward system for NEAR BOS. In December 2023, the MAU reached approximately 2.1 million, with a month-over-month (MoM) growth rate of 34%, indicating significant expansion for KAIKAI in Southeast Asia. This achievement is noteworthy, especially when compared to the monthly active user base of Uniswap, one of the most famous DApps in Web3, which is only 600,000 with an active user count of merely 6,000.
One of the distinctive features of KAIKAI is its use of stable coin called Kai-Ching to reward users. Through the KAIKAI app, users can purchase products, receive Kai-Ching tokens as rewards, and use them for payments. Additionally, KAIKAI said that operating blockchain-based payment system can 50 times lower annual cost than that of Stripe or Paypal. By reducing infrastructure setup costs, KAIKAI can significantly lower the prices consumers need to pay. As a result, KAIKAI demonstrates that if blockchain can create added value for consumers, it can remain competitive even if the user experience is not entirely new.
Friend.tech — Pioneering a New Trend in Web3 Social
Lastly, I would like to introduce Friend.tech that led SocialFi trend in 2023.
In October 2023, when Friend.tech was the most popular, DAU reached 70,000. The main feature of Friend.tech is that users cna purchase influencers’ keys (Shares) with ETH. Users can trade these keys to seek profits or directly engage with influencers. Moreover, individuals who acquire these keys can monetize by receiving a portion of the key transaction fees. Consequently, as the popularity of influencers rises, the price of keys is inevitably driven higher. Thus Friend.tech quantified the intangible realm of ‘power of influencers,’ allowing users to trade it like a stock, providing a novel experience.
As a consumer app, Friend.tech has significant advantages in terms of user experience. Friend.tech is the seamless integration with Twitter, making onboarding easy for existing Twitter users. However, similar to Stepn, if the profitability is gone, users would leave the service and attracting new users becomes challenging. You can ascertain the correlation between the number of users and profitability by examining the transaction volume, which initially surges and then sharply declines. Thus, Friend.tech effectively tapped into the point where Web3 users responded to the keyword ‘monetization,’ and grew really fast. Unfortunately, with the disappearance of the ‘monetization’, it faced that all the users left their service.
The Future Path for SuperSquad as a Consumer App
Beyond the keywords ‘monetization’
Through the analysis of the three cases of Web3 consumer apps above, we explored how they have grown and identified their limitations. Although Stepn and Friend.tech faced challenges in breaking through points where profitability declined, it is a fact that both services offered engaging and unique content that many people would like to try at least once. Unlike the previous two cases, KAIKAI established a business model that significantly differs from the traditional Web2 e-commerce structure. Utilizing a stable coin with a fixed price, KAIKAI avoids exposure to the volatility of Web3 token structures. Fundamentally, Web3 consumer apps are often designed to pursue profitability based on novel content. In other words, ‘content’ and ‘monetization’ are the major features of consumer apps in Web3. However, most Web3 products have focused primarily on ‘monetization,’ neglecting the content that makes products’ basic concept. Now Web3 needs consumer apps that not only relies on monetization.
Boosting user retention with strong contents and reward system
SuperSquad is a Web3 lifestyle challenge platform that helps users achieve various daily goals based on deposit pools. SuperSquad incorporates two main mechanisms into its reward system. The first is based on the ‘risk aversion tendency,’ motivating users to achieve their goals through the ‘fear of losing.’ It’s crucial to evoke a mindset like, ‘I must achieve this goal this time, and if I fail, I’ll lose all this money.’ So challenge contents should be important and everyone wants to achieve but not easy.
The second mechanism is based on the ‘reward upon accomplishment,’ aiming to provide continuous enjoyment throughout the goal achievement process. Actually, after losing money once, many may not feel eager to challenge it again. Hence, it’s vital to make users aware that clear rewards are granted upon achieving a particular goal. Thus, redistributing a certain level of earnings to users is essential. The method of how and when to distribute rewards will determine user retention. In conclusion, SuperSquad aims to provide users with a unique experience through engaging content, offering better experience beyond what traditional habit trackers or to-do apps provide.
More About SuperSquad!
SuperSquad is web3 lifestyle challenge platform based on financial incentive. It is for anyone struggling to achieve their daily goals. Our mission is to enforce goals and make the process enjoyable.
Official Website : https://supersquad.xyz/
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/supersquad_challenge/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/Supersquad_xyz
Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/company/supersquadchallenge
