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With the entry of players like eBay and Craigslist in the 1990s, the digital classifieds industry took off. OLX, LetGo, Quicker, Cashify, and Zamroo are 21st-century successors to these two businesses. LetGo, which is available as a mobile app for both Android and iOS smartphones and allows for easy selling and purchasing of used items, is one of the most well-known of these. Few people are aware that LetGo was founded by Alec Oxenford, the former CEO of OLX.
In 2015, Oxenford launched the LetGo app for the US market, and in 2016, it acquired Wallapop, a competitor. Oxenford was able to attract 10 million users on a monthly basis in less than two years. LetGo’s annual revenue is expected to be $38.4 million in 2020.
Several entrepreneurs are interested in launching their own classifieds app, recognizing the business potential in the digital Classifieds Marketplace App. Entrepreneurs will need to develop a mobile app with all of the capabilities to tackle everyday challenges and provide a satisfying customer experience in order to replicate LetGo’s success and establish their brand.
This blog contains deep insights for building a classified clone script like LetGo to assist such entrepreneurs.
The Reasons for LetGo’s Success
LetGo’s growth and success can be attributed to a number of factors. The most visible and prominent among them is Alec Oxenford’s leadership, who had previously founded and managed the classified company OLX. Oxenford not only had the entrepreneurial experience to make a startup like LetGo a huge success, but he also had the right team and connections to help the company grow strategically.
Other factors that contribute to LetGo’s popularity include:
1. An effective marketing strategy
LetGo used a 360-degree marketing strategy to promote its business, which included funny TV commercials, YouTube ads, social media marketing, and automobile partnerships. The goal of the commercials was to explain the app’s benefits, its speed in selling products, and to build trust in order to attract sellers to the platform.
2. Reach and Exposure
Another reason for LetGo’s success was the broad reach it provided to sellers who registered on the app. LetGo claims to have surpassed the milestone of 100 million downloads in its first three years of operation. LetGo reported that 25 million cars were available on the app in 2019, with 1.1 million new car listings added every month. Such impressive figures demonstrate LetGo’s enormous reach and exposure for both buyers and sellers.
3. A Wide Selection of Products
LetGo is a marketplace where you can sell anything. Real estate and automobiles are among the categories, as are home electronics, gardening supplies, clothing, and baby items. LetGo quickly became one of the top alternatives to OLX, eBay, and Craigslist due to its extensive list of items and broad categories, which meant that buyers quickly switched to LetGo when they couldn’t find a used product on the existing Classifieds Marketplace App.
4. Safety and security
To build a customer base on a Classifieds Marketplace App, it’s critical to ensure the safety and security of users. In all realistic scenarios, the general public will only sign up for classified platforms that sound trustworthy and reliable. LetGo has always prioritized user security and has provided a chat messenger for on-platform conversations. Finally, on its official marketing collaterals, it informed consumers about how to stay safe when selling or buying used goods.
What is the Process of LetGo?
On the LetGo app, there are three distinct user types:
- The Administrator
- Sellers
- Buyers
To ensure smooth classified operations on the app, all of these user types follow the same workflow:
- The platform allows buyers to upload their products.
- The listing is checked by the administrator.
- Buyers can see listings that have been approved.
- Buyers find a product they want and contact the seller.
- The product is sold by the seller.
- Build a Classifieds Marketplace App Workflow
Important:
The admin also has the option to reject a listing or send it back for moderation in the workflow. The seller can re-upload the same listing once it has been moderated.
- The buyer and seller can negotiate the price in a chat messenger and come to an agreement.
- The buyer/seller is also in charge of the product’s delivery or pickup.
How does LetGo generate revenue?
LetGo Clone does not charge a registration fee to its sellers, nor does it deduct a commission for any sale or purchase made through the app. As a result, the question of how the app makes money arises.
LetGo’s revenue generation model is distinct from that of other eCommerce platforms. We’ve listed some of its well-known revenue-generating strategies below:
1. Promotional Displays
LetGo makes money by displaying advertisements on its app. It enables different sellers and vendors to place promotional banners or other marketing collateral throughout the app. The higher the number of visitors who click on these ads, the more money LetGo makes. LetGo even sponsors advertisements in specific geographic regions, giving its display advertising methods more value.
2. Subscription to a freemium service
LetGo also makes money through a freemium model. Sellers can upload listings for free with a freemium subscription, but they also get access to a paid feature called ‘Bump Up.’ When enabled, the Bump Up option places the seller’s listings at the top of the search results for seven days in a row.
Bump Up pricing varies from product to product and ranges from $0.99 to $3.99.
3. Subscriptions for a fee
For sellers, LetGo offers two paid subscription options. These are the following:
LetGo Pro Plan: This plan is designed specifically for commercial car dealers who want to use the app to sell used cars. With advanced features like feed integration and buyer callback, the plan focuses on assisting dealers in lead generation. Under the LetGo Pro Plan, car listings are also made public right away. The plan also includes a 30-day free trial period after which car dealerships must choose one of the following payment options:
- For $99, you get 30 listings.
- $399 includes 70 listings.
- For $599, you get 150 listings.
Super Boost Mode: LetGo offers a super boost mode subscription to every seller who signs up for the platform. LetGo promises to feature at least one product from the seller every day as part of this subscription. LetGo collects data from all products on the marketplace and analyzes them for their likelihood of being purchased for this purpose. As a result, the items with the best chance of selling are automatically added to the feature list and displayed to buyers.
Although the aforementioned revenue streams are not unique to LetGo, they are distinct from commission-based marketplace stores, which charge a commission to vendors on every transaction. This also implies that the software application will have different functionality to help with online classifieds business operations.
- Multiple Revenue Streams in an Advanced Digital Classifieds Marketplace App
- Now is the time to investigate.
- Top Issues Facing an Online Classified Company
We discussed the features of developing an app like LetGo later in this blog. However, in order to comprehend the importance of the most important features, it is necessary to shed light on some key issues that Classifieds Marketplace App.
Furthermore, the following issues will aid you in pre-planning solutions so that you can aim to establish a strong presence in the industry right away:
The first issue is online fraud.
Every year, cybercrime is responsible for billions of dollars in fraud. eCommerce fraud is a type of cybercrime that is relatively simple to perpetrate on classified websites. In the vast majority of fraud cases, sellers upload a fake product and request payment online before delivering it. The price of fraud products is usually kept unbelievably low to entice customers into this scam. These scams not only defraud buyers, but they also tarnish the reputation of classified websites.
Solution:
To improve security against fraudulent advertisements, business owners can incorporate the following features:
Seller Verification: A feature that allows you to check a seller’s age and proof of address right on the platform. For this purpose, a variety of ID documents issue by the government and relate statutory bodies can use.
Ownership Document Verification: The app may also request that the seller upload proof of purchase of the product, such as a bill. This feature, however, is not as viable as seller verification because consumers may not have the bill for products they purchased years ago.
Problem #2: Product Availability Status Is Outdated
Another major issue that classified apps face is the delay in ad status updates. In some cases, sellers will upload a product to the app and then leave it unattended until it sells. As a result, a product that is no longer available at the seller is still shown to buyers, resulting in a negative customer experience.
Solution:
The following features will help you mitigate the negative effects of outdated ad status:
Push-Notifications: A feature that notifies buyers of sales of products they are interest in. This can use for a variety of purposes, including sending advertisements, promotions, and price drop alerts.
By enabling this feature, the app owner can choose how long an advertisement will display in the app. The ad will be automatically remove from search listings and hidden from new buyers at the end of this time period. By logging into his or her profile, the seller can reactivate the ad.
Finding Sellers and Buyers is the third issue.
The ‘chicken and the egg’ problem is frequently encounter in classified apps. Apps require a large number of advertisements on the marketplace to attract buyers, and sellers are required to provide these advertisements. To invite someone to sell their product on the app, the owner must first ensure that buyers are available on the platform.
Solution:
To find sellers and buyers for their classifieds app, business owners need the following marketing and branding features:
SEO: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) features like meta tags optimization, Slug optimization, RSS feed optimization, and alt tags help to improve your app’s visibility in search engines. With the help of SEO, Google can show your product to any buyer looking for used goods.
Social Media Sharing: Every day, social media behemoths receive billions of users. You can enable those users to do their own marketing for their secondhand product listings with the help of social media sharing options. As a result, traffic from social media sites will direct to your classifieds app. This can accomplish by including social media sharing buttons (at least for the most popular platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) on each product.
Seller Subscription: Similar to LetGo, you can create your own subscription package for sellers and include features like boost mode for their listings and callbacks. Your subscription could include a variety of features that aren’t available on your competitor’s platform, or the same features at a lower cost.
Email Marketing: You can use email marketing to send proposals to different sellers. Advanced email generation features, such as a drag-and-drop builder and a content studio, are also available through the MailChimp API. Sellers can also be notified of upcoming offers and subscription packages via business emails.
Advanced Analytics: APIs such as Google Analytics, Tableau, and Power BI can use assess the performance of different landing pages within the app. They can also help with multivariate testing and determining which ads generate the most value for your app. Even if you don’t see any immediate benefits from analytical data, it will help you formulate future business strategies and stay agile.
Final Thoughts
Alec Oxenford, the former CEO of OLX, clearly had the experience and know-how to launch an app like LetGo and make it a household name. Entrepreneurs can replicate the model with the right guidance and target audience. Industrial experts can advise you on the required feature set, deployment, and iterations for developing a robust application like LetGo.
They can also provide you with timely support and assist you in providing your customers with uninterrupted service. It is recommend that you discuss your project requirements with your preferred experts and obtain a quote for the same to get a head start. You can then conduct a comparative analysis to determine which custom mobile app development company is best for your Classifieds Marketplace App development needs.
