Car classifieds site Carmudi which launched earlier this year, keeps increasing its availability for various market segments. Just as what startups in developing countries do, Carmudi launches its Android app ahead of other platforms. The service, which is part of the Rocket Internet family, is currently available in 16 Asian and African countries.
When launching the app for the first time, the user will have to set the country and the language to begin with. The application itself is quite simple to use; all of the search criteria are already there. The users only have to choose the cars based on a number of criteria, ranging from the car’s brand, model, year of production, price, and location. There are also advanced searching criteria, such as transmission, working fuel type, and car’s color.
Unfortunately, if there is no match for the search, the filters will be cleared and the next search will have to start from scratch, which is quite impractical.
Carmudi doesn’t just offer car listings but also for motorbikes and delivery vans. The list of car makers it provides is relatively comprehensive. For those who wish to save their search results but reluctant to sign up to Carmudi, they can sign up using their Facebook accounts and the results will be available on the Saved menu.
Carmudi’s decision to launch a mobile application, even if it’s only for Android at the moment, is one of its efforts to expand its business scope after launching a mobile optimized website. According to 2013 data from Carmudi, 55% of online retail activities were done via mobile devices, and 45% were done through desktop or notebook computers.
Carmudi is fully aware about this trend and it does not intend to lose the market only because of a failure in catching up with it. Moreover, most of Carmudi’s users come from developing countries in which the number of smartphone and tablet users is rapidly growing. As Carmudi co-founder Stephan Haubold, said, “in developing countries, smartphone and tablet have become two important gadgets. Therefore, we believe that mobile shipping will hold a significant role in the future of e-commerce.”
In Indonesia Carmudi has to compete with other classifieds companies offering more than just car listings, such as OLX and Berniaga, which have launched mobile applications for multiple platforms.
[Photo illustration: Shuttershock]
