A local web services company has launched a web classifieds service, www.bartrit.com, that has taken the country by storm. The service promises to provide a platform for local entrepreneurs to promote their products and services absolutely free of cost.
The website can easily be used by the general public, even with minimum knowledge in the field of ICT.
Only seven months old, the website had garnered a total of 365,000 local hits and 120,000 pageviews by the end of 2013, making it by far the fastest growing website locally.
The secret to their remarkable popularity being superior marketing strategies and world class customer service, boasted Mr Bohra.
“We have come up with a revolutionary pricing option for large vendors, which will surely raise eyebrows.”
Batswana will also be able to enjoy a low bandwidth version of www.bartrit.com, as the web service was recently launched on the mobile platform. This decision was taken because “more Batswana access the internet through mobile devices than desktops”, claimed Mr Bohra.
Although, primarily being a free web service for the general public, Bartrit also provides vendors a chance to optimally reach out to their audience by placing premium advertisements on the site, from as little as 5 thebe whilst the most expensive advertisement space costs just 25 thebe. “We have come up with a revolutionary pricing option for vendors, which will surely raise eyebrows,” said Mr Bohra.
Mr Bohra understands the Botswana market well, as he is a product of Setswana education.
He grew up in Gaborone and Francistown, schooling in Galaletsang Primary, Donga CJSS and Gaborone Senior Secondary school.
With the help of his close friends, Mr Bohra developed the website over a period of three years, to ensure an international level of quality and service is provided locally.
When asked about the future plans of Bartrit Botswana, Mr Bohra said they are working tirelessly to introduce a unique SMS system that will enable Batswana in the rural areas to promote themselves, their products and services to the rest of the country, through the internet, simply by sending an SMS to 74330000. They also plan to launch the website in Kenya and Nigeria, therefore providing local vendors a platform to promote themselves internationally.
The Bartrit Botswana market research report concluded that, if vendors opted for a mixture of offline and online advertising, Botswana can save up to P175 million in advertising costs whilst improving advertisement effectiveness by at least 58 percent and cutting down on man hours by a whopping 366 hours per annum.
