In this first phase, it has applied its expertise and knowledge of South Africa's mobile economy to develop world-class Android applications for phone and tablet device along with a mobile site.
"With a unique, interactive and compelling mobile offering, the company is looking to blow the South African book market away with the features packed into the app and mobile site," says Lana Barnett, CEO of Leisure Books.
"Our experience in the mCommerce field has shown us that there are two distinct types of mCommerce users: those who steer towards apps and those who steer towards mobile sites. Our strategy with Leisure Books was focused on catering for both types of users, hence the decision to launch both apps and a mobisite," says Lynette Hundermark, apps business director at Prezence.
This app is developed specifically for the Android operating system, which sets it apart from many others produced in South Africa.
"While this is a longer process than the industry norm of app wrapping, which essentially is a mobile site mimicking an app, users get a richer, more seamless, and efficient experience in using the app. The client understood the importance of approaching the development of these apps from a member-centric point of view," says Hundermark.
With the trend of users moving away from PCs and consuming content on their tablets, both companies felt that it was integral that the tablet version of the app be fully optimised to harness the capacity and power available to tablet devices.
Far too often, Hundermark notes, tablets apps launched in South Africa are nothing more than 'souped-up phone apps'. "While the primary manner in which our members currently engage with our programme, namely using our printed quarterly catalogue for ordering books by sending an SMS short code of their book choice, still works, the stats on mobile marketplace development made it clear there was a business opportunity for us here," says Barnett.
Hundermark concludes, "In its 11 years in South Africa's digital economy, the company has developed a name as a leader for its work in delivering strategic and immersive digital experiences across web and mobile for leading brands."
