It`s been a month and he`s still going strong. Dotcoza, the subject of the e-commerce research study conducted by Andersen Consulting and sponsored by UUNet, has rounded off his initial forays into retail e-commerce and is now targeting the vast expanse of the South African online banking industry.
Dotcoza will register with the Big Four of the banking industry - ABSA, Standard Bank, FNB and Nedbank - and compare their various offerings for the rest of this week.
The 23-year-old self-proclaimed lab experiment concluded his primary research into the retail field with a purchase which Andersen Consulting touts as the first of its kind in SA, made using Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) technology over the Nokia 7110 cellphone he purchased last week, and through the iTouch WAP portal, launched in partnership with Independent News & Media and Vodacom. The portal offers information services such as news, finance reports, sport, weather and entertainment - and limited shopping capabilities.
"Since it is a pilot project, the options were limited. I chose to buy a CD, but there were only three choices; Britney Spears, Bump and Andrea Bocelli."
Although he had a rough guideline to the ins and outs of WAP technology, Dotcoza found that using it is, "so easy, it is actually ridiculous".
"It`s a bit of work setting up, but very easy after that. My first impressions were that this was seriously futuristic, but basically, if you can do it on a PC, you`ll be able to do it using WAP."
"The statistics are undeniable", says Alan Quinn, senior manager, e-commerce, Andersen Consulting. "There are just over 1 million PC users in SA and some 5 million cellphone users and the gap is widening every day with projections of over 10 million cellular users by 2005. Cellular technology could be one of the most effective channels in which to reach the mass market."
The Dotcoza project will run until 6 June.
Related stories:
Exploring the hi-tech world of Dotcoza
Dotcoza solves underwear dilemma, hankers for fast food
Share
