South African start-up, Zone-in, a platform that facilitates communication between people and businesses within their suburbs, has gone live.
Locals to a particular suburb can search for businesses in their specific areas on the Internet, 'check in' to a particular neighbourhood or business, chat with people in the area, and rate the products and services they consume.
Paul Marais, founder of Zone-in, says he conceived the idea because South Africans need a new way of "discovering, sharing and promoting each other and everything else".
For businesses, he says Zone-in delivers targeted marketing messages to customers in specific suburbs, through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
Zone-in provides a list of businesses that match a user's search terms, along with information, ratings and the location of those businesses. The platform also automatically links to Google Maps, which Marais says makes finding the location easier.
In addition, Zone-in issues two daily updates to users within their chosen suburbs, which can be filtered to include only the topics, products and services they choose, he adds.
"Businesses will have a view into their local customers, and can send them special offers and discounts for immediate use.
"Location-based marketing is an efficient, measurable way to increase sales," says Marais. "Companies can tap into on-the-go marketing, by creating promotions and special offers, and marketing them directly to customers in their neighbourhoods. Customers can provide valuable feedback to the businesses, and recommend services and products to their peers."
Users can log in through a dedicated username and password provided by Zone-in, or through Facebook, to share with their list of friends.
The platform is being marketed through marketing students from local universities, and will roll out starting with the Western Cape, through to Natal, and later, Gauteng.
Marais says the company's development team will offer additional online solutions to its clients, and specialise in HTML5, PHP, ASP.net, Python, SharePoint, mobile apps and customer quality control.
Today's consumers are more tech savvy than ever, using their mobile devices to navigate their interests and organise their lives," says Marais. "Location-based advertising gives businesses direct access to consumers in their area. Because this model is based on the context of the consumer's location and interests, businesses are guaranteed a targeted audience."
In addition to reaching local consumers in their areas, Marais says businesses using location-based advertising can expand their reach beyond the local community. "People unfamiliar with an area can turn to location-based directories to search for restaurants, shops or services within a particular suburb.
"Businesses using Zone-in are able to interact directly with customers via online chat and also update their profiles on a daily basis, highlighting special offerings and promotions. In addition to live updates, businesses can link their social networks to their profiles, giving users access to their social media feeds," he adds.
Users can access Zone-in for free, either via the company's Web site, or by downloading the mobi app.
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