Kalahariads.net, the new Naspers-owned online classifieds site, goes live today. The new service will also offer a mobile service that could potentially make online classifieds accessible to anyone who can send an SMS.
The mobile service will be available by the end of next month.
Bronwyn Johnson, head of marketing for kalahariads.net, would not divulge the finer details, but says: “All we can say at the moment is that the mobile service will not be solely for smartphones - we want it to be accessible via any type of cellphone.”
Johnson explains that the service would allow users to post adverts and browse content via SMS. While this is not the first time classifieds will be going mobile, it will be the first time such a service is made available to users in SA without WAP-enabled handsets.
Last year, cellular network provider Vodacom established the online and mobile classifieds service LiveAds. The mobile aspect of the service is, however, limited to users with WAP access.
Setting a trend
“The approach being taken for kalahariads.net represents the ideal crossover between Web and mobile,” says World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck. “We are at an interesting phase of digital evolution in SA, where the cellphone is rising fast to meet the online needs of those who are still cut off from the world of the Internet.”
Goldstuck explains that in the South African mobile market context, there is a great need for services that cut across technological barriers. “The intentions of kalahariads.net seem to be well-geared towards addressing that need.”
The mobile service will form part of the multi-platform approach taken by kalahariads.net. “Kalahariads.net is mass market aimed,” adds Johnson, explaining that online classifieds have traditionally been the preserve of early adopters and those who already use similar services.
“We want anybody to be able to use kalahariads.net, and we want it to become a mass technology. We want to make it as easy as possible, and lower the barriers to entry into the online classifieds market,” says Johnson.
Focus on SMEs
The local market is currently dominated by international names such as Gumtree and eBay. However, Johnson is confident kalahariads.net will have the edge by virtue of the fact that it is both locally-owned and managed, and the content will be localised.
It will also provide SMEs free online profiling pages, in order to grow the online trade environment.
Kalahariads.net will not be a purely automated system, and will have a team of individuals moderating all adverts. “We want the site to be as clean and safe as possible,” says Johnson.
Out with the old?
Speaking of the potential impact the mobile service could have on the traditional classifieds market, Goldstuck comments: “At this stage, it is more likely to complement and add value to traditional classifieds rather than compete with or cannibalise them. In the future, when all phones are WAP- or Web-enabled, and become a preferred platform for news and information, services like this will be the primary format for classified advertising.”
Goldstuck added that 2011 is seeing large-scale take-up of the mobile Web in the mass market for the first time in SA, and consequently media entities that have not considered this option will be caught on the back-foot.
“Of course, SMS remains the most widely used form of information dissemination in the country, and continues to spawn innovative uses. Classifieds via SMS are not new, but in this case it represents an effective part of a broader mix,” explains Goldstuck.
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