InDrive, the ride-hailing company built on a bidding model rather than fixed fares, is shifting gears toward a broader “super app” strategy. The company is starting with grocery delivery in Central Asia and says it will add more everyday services in its biggest markets, betting that a low-cost, high-frequency bundle can win in places where super apps have been hard to crack.
The plan leans on a growing user base and a differentiated approach to price and product. InDrive reports hundreds of millions of app downloads and billions of transactions globally, positioning itself as one of the most-installed ride-hailing apps worldwide in recent years. Its pitch: serve cost-conscious consumers with everyday utilities, keep them opening the app more often, and lower acquisition costs across verticals.
Why a super app—and why now
The company argues that frequency is destiny. If users can book a ride, ship a parcel, and fill a pantry in one place, loyalty and lifetime value go up while marketing spend per service goes down. Senior executives say that delivery has become one of the fastest-scaling parts of the business, with tens of millions of completed orders over the past year and a sharp step-up in the latest quarter. That traction helped justify a move into groceries—an anchor use case with weekly cadence.
Crucially, InDrive’s marketplace DNA differs from rivals that built around fixed pricing and heavy subsidies. Its bidding mechanic—riders propose, drivers counter—translates cleanly to other categories where price sensitivity is high and supply is fragmented, such as last-mile delivery and small-load freight. That flexibility may prove useful as the company experiments with payments, take rates, and daily payouts tailored to gig workers in different cities.
Kazakhstan as the launchpad
InDrive chose Kazakhstan to pilot its grocery service, offering thousands of SKUs with rapid delivery promises and early customer satisfaction scores that would make any grocer envious. The company says users place multiple orders per month on average, and it has expanded its network of dark stores by roughly a third since the initial rollout to improve speed and availability.
There is a macro case, too. Research by Dealroom with Astana Hub highlights a fast-accelerating digital economy in Kazakhstan, with the overall tech ecosystem value surging compared to a few years ago. That momentum, plus relatively lower competition than in mega-markets, gives InDrive room to refine logistics, assortment, and unit economics before exporting the model to Latin America, North Africa, and South Asia.
The value proposition is simple: reliable basics at prices that feel like discount retail. Executives frame the effort as tackling access gaps that push families toward costlier or lower-quality options. If InDrive can consistently deliver affordable staples in 15–30 minutes, it can earn both frequency and trust—the lifeblood of a super app.
The playbook: price, density, and trust
Three levers underpin the strategy. First, price transparency and negotiation—core to InDrive—help match supply and demand in volatile markets without endless subsidies. Second, geographic density: targeted dark stores and courier networks reduce delivery times and improve basket economics. Third, trust and safety: the company says it is investing in training, verification, and responsive support to counter perceptions that marketplace models are less predictable.
Beyond groceries, InDrive is testing freight and micromobility, and exploring integrations with local businesses and public transport. The company stresses it will partner where it lacks direct operating expertise, rather than force-fit every service in-house—a notable contrast with some past super app attempts.
Can it succeed where others stumbled?
The super app dream is littered with cautionary tales. Outside of China’s WeChat and Southeast Asia’s Gojek and Grab, many efforts fizzled due to high subsidy burn, regulatory friction, and weak cross-sell. In markets like the United States and Europe, consumer habits and antitrust scrutiny make all-in-one platforms a tougher sell. Even large platforms that tried to bolt on commerce and payments have struggled to move beyond their core use case.
InDrive thinks its odds improve by targeting frontier and emerging markets where incumbents are sparse and budgets are tight. It competes with Uber and regional players like Ola and Rapido in some countries, but positions itself for segments that value flexible pricing and low fees. In places where a competitor exits or pulls back, InDrive has shown it can capture share quickly—Pakistan being a prominent example.
The biggest risks are operational. Rapid delivery is capital-intensive, and margin can evaporate without tight assortment, careful zone planning, and high courier utilization. Customer safety and service quality must keep pace as categories multiply. And while the bidding model is a differentiator, it must remain intuitive as the app layers in groceries, freight, and beyond.
What to watch next
Near-term milestones include rollout velocity in Latin America, North Africa, and South Asia; repeat-order rates and average basket size in early grocery markets; and whether partnerships can speed entry into complex categories without dragging down margins. Investors and rivals will also watch how InDrive balances driver earnings, take rates, and delivery promises as volumes scale.
If the company can keep prices compelling while raising reliability and safety, it may write a new playbook for super apps in frontier economies—one built less on subsidies and more on local density, product pragmatism, and a user base that returns not for perks, but for everyday value.