smsbazar - mobile marketplace
TRANSCRIPT
“Access to market in your pocket!"
mobile & web marketplace
Who are we?
• Aibek Dunaev• Software engineer, IT-entrepreneur• Middle East Technical University, Turkey (2004)• 8 years of experience in IТ-industry (Turkey,
Singapore, Taiwan, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan)• Founder of SMSBazar project – from idea till the
launch• Currently based in Kazakhstan
• Email: [email protected]
Who are we?
• Dody Gunawinata• IT-entrepreneur, 12 years of experience in IT
industry;• Queensland Technological University, Australia
(1998);• Founded SilverKey in 2003 in Chicago, USA;• Currently SilverKey has offices in USA, Egypt, India,
Marocco and Azerbaijan;• Based in Egypt, leading the development team and
managing operations;
• Email: [email protected]
Who are we?
Some of our projects:• SMSBazar Kazakhstan;• SMS tracking system for DHL (DHL Asia Pacific, Singapore);• Golden Pay (Azerbaijan);• SalesBoost (USA);• Midas – Transportation and Logistics Management System (Egypt);
What we are solving?
• Market problem/failure:• between Manufacturer/Service owner and Consumer• between Buyer and Seller• non-transparent market, market information is not easily accessible
• Ads on newspapers, TV and other media:• limited coverage, not accessible by everyone• expensive, not affordable by majority
• Internet advertising is not effective :• low fixed-line internet penetration, lack of mobile versions of web portals• where people are less technical or internet literate• in smaller cities and villages
How we are solving?
• Using existing GSM network + mobile internet + fixed-line internet• Central database, different access channels for each different audience• Overall very high coverage and access
• Providing electronic (mobile) classified ads service:• in real-time• instantly• by categorizing information• in a smart way• making it customizable for user behavior
• Content is created and consumed by the users• Also aggregates classifieds from major local resources automatically
So what is SMSBAZAR?!
• More than online classified ads portal• Posting ads and offers• Searching for ads and offers• Subscribing to ads and offers• Market analytics for everyone• One step free online mobile shop for individuals & micro business owners
via SMS (to a short code such as 9595) via web site via mobile site via mobile apps
... and more!
What is SMSBAZAR?
What we have completed?SMS gateway for posting, searching and receiving SMS-ads
What we have completed?Web portal www.smsbazar.kg (similar to Craigslist concept)
What we have completed?Mobile site smsbazar.kg/mobile – for smartphones, tablets, etc.
What we have completed?WAP site smsbazar.kg/wap – for phones with only WAP support
What we have completed?Classifieds aggregator “Spider”
• “Spider” collects the classified ads from other popular local resources• Makes them available for mobile users which was impossible before• Helps to create initial momentum for the service
What we have completed?
SMS contextual ads service
• Contextual sponsor ads to be included instead of unused symbols in SMS• Automatic selection of related ads from the database• Targeting the right audience by inserting ads inside SMS search results• B2C, C2C• Revenue source
What we have completed?SMS contextual ads service How does it work?
What we plan to add more?“Mobile shop” ownership• For micro business owners, farmers, traders, etc.• Easy to remember URL - www.smsbazar.kg/0550125487
(0550125487 - phone number of the owner)• Personal account to manage his own listings• Available templates for business cards and marketing brochures with their
URL indicated on (see below)
What we plan to add more?Market Intelligence – Market Analytics
• Request the price “How much is …?”• Market trends• Market forecasts, basic market analytics, etc.
What we plan to add more?Market Intelligence – Market Analytics
What we plan to add more?Of course, mobile apps for popular mobile platforms!
What we plan to add more?Integration with social networks
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What are the strengths?
• Very easy to use• Quick and simple• Cheap prices (SMS costs close to standard SMS rates)• Access to market - instantly, everywhere, on demand (not a spam)• People can open own “mobile shop” or “mobile microbusiness”
• Language support: English, Russian, local language (Kyrgyz)• Fonts: Latin, Cyrillic (Unicode)
Social Mission
• Fosters social-economic growth in rural areas• Direct access to the market without a middle-men• Access for employment and trade opportunities• Development of commerce in rural areas• Trade of agriculture and farm products via SMS
• For-profit business with social mission – growing trend among IT companies/projects in the world– provides social good, makes lives better
Analogs in other countries
• CellBazaar.com (Bangladesh)– Founder – Qamal Quadir;– MIT "Ideas for Development“ Award, 2007;– "Young Global Leader (YGL) of 2009“ Award in World Economic Forum
in Davos;– Service is very similar to SMSBazar;
Investors: - Gray Matters Capital (www.graymatterscap.com);- Pierre Omidyar, Ebay founder;
Analogs in other countries
• Google Trader (Africa, 2011)– Marketplace for products and services;– Operates in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana;– Has a web version, a mobile web version and an SMS option;
Analogs in other countries
• Mobiya (UK)– Founders - Martin Davis, Sacha Vekeman;– Powering the classifieds brands of leading media publishers/portals;– Distribution over classified advertising networks:
Oodle, Trovit, Google and Yahoo;– Search and syndication agreements with high-traffic online classified
portals;– Offers revenue share plans for both classified content publication and
classified short code promotion;– Standard SMS fees;
Analogs in other countries
• Craigslist.org (USA, 1995)– Founder - Craig Newmark;– Internet classified ads, forum;– Operates in 570 cities in 50 countries;– 20 billion pageviews per months;– 37th most visited site in the world (source: Alexa.com);– 10th most visited site in USA;
Investor: - eBay Inc (%25)
Revenue and Budget
• Revenue from SMS traffic (post, search)• Contextual advertising in SMS• Sponsored ads on web and mobile sites• Value added services – subscriptions, notifications, etc.
Future
• Launch in other countries (CIS, Arabic countries, South-East Asia, Africa, etc.)
• Voice (IVR) channel (dial to listen to ads)• Mobile yellow pages• Rich market intelligence, market analysis reports via web / SMS• M-commerce projects offered to the existing user base• Mobile payments
