Classifieds in Kenya
By far the most successful form of classifieds in Kenya are paper based and more particularly those posted by the local leading newspapers. One of the leading local papers actually has its own weekly advertiser devoted purely to classifieds. These are also posted online but currently there are no mobile applications for collection and dissemination of such content.
Nevertheless, there are numerous value added texting services dedicated to a specific classifieds category most popularly jobs and social networking (dating).
A similar project to Mosoko was launched in the fall of 2006 by a local value added provider in Kenya. They launched the product with a roll out of an advertiser magazine that was given free to the public; they concurrently launched a website and a mobile service to search for classifieds content. The product caught on initially but did not generate adequate user retention and eventually was not popular enough to get a critical amount of content let alone generate adequate funds to sustain the project. It was later discontinued and currently lies dormant. There were several challenging market obstacles that Mosoko has learned from this project and that we wish to address so as to make Mosoko a success. Some of these include:
Content
Content is critical for any information search service. Mosoko needs to develop an optimal system of collecting classifieds postings that will not compromise on other factors such as the quality of data that Mosoko shall be holding. Relevant content happens to be one of the key customer retention drivers for Mosoko. Users who cannot find what they are looking for within the classifieds will most probably not attempt a Mosoko search again... there are several other models we are thinking about such as saving a search and sending notifications as and when the searched item becomes available. Other content building strategies under consideration include strategic alliances, an easy to use Mosoko website as well as live posting through the mobile phone.
Quality of data
Relevant content as mentioned above (every search needs to generate a hit, if not it may be turned into an ask and a follow up text may be sent when the content is available). Other issues include ensuring that all classifieds postings are genuine and "live". Several mechanisms can be used including a price discrimination where posting a classified would be charged a premium so that only those genuine sellers realize the value of Mosoko and therefore act appropriately. Customer dissatisfaction may not only occur through a fruitless search but also through returning a fake lead on an items search.
Ease of use
The service needs to be fairly easy to use and should also cater for the illiterate user. Limiting the complexity of the system is vital and modeling it along the lines of common mobile services such as a voicemail retrieval may achieve a high user learning and acceptability rate.
Expense
The service needs to be appropriately priced so as not to discourage usage. Previous attempts at Mobile classifieds had crippling fees and were loopy in an attempt to generate as much revenue as possible. Mosoko may need to address the question of appropriate pricing and possibly explore a varied set of revenue structures.
Turn-around time
Added to throughput (an issue touched on in the content section above), turn-around time also needs to be optimal to retain users. Turn-around time factors in several issues such as cost which happens to be a pretty big determinant to a user seeking the service.
- Login to post comments
