Charles Ivia, the founder of online platform Titan Market. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NMG
Her goal was to come with an online platform where buyers and
sellers of goods interact
conveniently. It is for this reason that Charles Ivia, a third year student at Kenyatta University, developed two mobile applications.
conveniently. It is for this reason that Charles Ivia, a third year student at Kenyatta University, developed two mobile applications.
The Titan Business app is
developed for local businesses and service providers while the Titan
Market app is for online shoppers.
Mr
Ivia, 21, says the idea behind the platform is to provide an online
market place where businesses and customers can engage and seal deals.
“We
realised there was a gap between what social media platforms provide
and what the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) want,” he said.
Titan Business allows a user to create own logo, upload products, receive orders, post promos and deals, among other things.
Upon registering on the platform, users are assigned a backend from where they manage their customers.
There
are no charges for registration. Instead, users are allowed a two-month
trial period after which a monthly service charge of Sh250 kicks in.
In
just one month of operation, the platform has attracted and hosts firms
such as Glam_affairs, Safaricom shops in Village Market and at Sarit,
Best Lady on Moi Avenue and Ruai Family Hospital.
Other
users on the platform include Kenyatta University, DenKa Investments
and the University of Nairobi. Titan Market on the other hand offers
shoppers “a better, simpler and more reliable market place experience”.
Upon downloading the app on Google play store, users can view online business stores and service providers around them.
The
platform has Google maps API that allows potential clients to see the
distance between their current location and a particular shop.
“We
realised that customers preferred to deal with businesses closer to
them. The platform allows a customer to filter available businesses
based on distance,” said Mr Ivia.
Businesses on Titan
Market have comprehensive profiles allowing users to conduct research
and hence make better purchase decisions.
When customers make an order, their names pop up at the business’ backend allowing both parties to engage.
Payment
options include M-Pesa, Equitel and Eazzypay. In case of complaints,
the first step is to interrogate the customer before approaching the
business owner.
Businesses that do not make amends or
are notorious offenders get their accounts suspended from the platform
after the third warning.
“With both apps, our plan is
to help SMEs move to the next level by bringing customers to their site
and actually convince them to seal deals,” he said.
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