An annual increase of as much as 30 percent in the usage of mobile apps in Nigeria, both for global and local apps, has visibly surged Carmudi’s, a vehicle online marketplace, growth in the past nine months, the company has said.
The new but innovative online platform that offers car buyers, sellers and dealers the ideal destination to find cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles launched its mobile app in the second half of 2014, as part of measures to capture the attention of tech savvy Nigerians.
“What first started as a side project, quickly became the biggest growth driver as we see extremely strong growth rates on our mobile app usage,” Christian Keller, managing director of Carmudi Nigeria, said at an interactive session at the just concluded Social Media Week (SMW) held in Lagos.
Highlighting the rationale behind businesses motive to create a mobile app, Keller said: “Customers on mobile apps are more loyal than website users. They return more often to the service and it is easier to keep in touch with them over notifications – much of which cannot be achieved with a mobile website alone.”
According to him, Carmudi´s mission is to make car buying and selling as easy as shopping for daily groceries. “People need to gain access to the entire available market anywhere and anytime to arrive at an informed decision. The Carmudi app allows customers search for the right car on the go or upload a car in less than 2 minutes,” the managing director said.
To understand why mobile apps play a special role in African countries, Keller noted that Africa was a Mobile First continent where people immediately adopted phones without making the detour through desktop PCs or laptops. Hence, the reason why mobile is even more important to Africa.
Studies have shown that by 2017, 334 million Africans will be connected to the internet via smart phones – the majority of them without having seen the internet on a desktop before.
The Carmudi app allows people to find their next car at the convenience of their mobile devices. Just like the website, it features 30,000 verified cars which are available for sale in Nigeria, but makes it more convenient to use. Users can directly call a seller from your phone or upload your car with the phone´s camera. Interested sellers can send notifications directly to your app and searches can be saved.
The SMW is one of the events that has branched out from the mobile phone market in Africa, and has become one of Africa’s leading mobile event.
ODINAKA MBONU
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