How can the Net make a difference to our lives? In India, those applications will do well which either save us time or money. The Net needs to become a utility service. Examples of such services:
- Messaging: Email is undoubtedly the killer app. We must enable email through the browser, in regional languages and via voice. Instant Messaging and Chat will also be key drivers for this.
- Utility Payments and Ticketing: Queues are the real pain of life of India. Anything which can be done to bypass queues can be a big success.
- Personal: Calendar, Reminders, Diary, ToDo Lists, etc. These need to be actionised via alerts sent at specific times to the user on the Device.
- Neighbourhood: Whats On in the 2-km radius from my home – deals/talks/etc. I should give in my pin codes of interest and we then combine this with the information that we make my neighbourhood life more interesting.
- General Information: News, Stock Quotes, Astrology, Search, etc. I should be able to create a package of information that I am interested in and it should be delivered to me without my having to request it all the time. Use this information to create a customizable first page.
- Egroceries: 57% of retail spend in India is on food and groceries in SEC A and B households across the top 20 cities. Also, 77% of retail spend happens within a 2 km radius of people’s homes. For eCommerce in India to take off, groceries have to be a significant part of that.
- Education: Everyone likes to and wants to learn. We need to build on this urge. It could be learning words, English, about new places through quizzes, etc. Some of these could be on a subscription-basis.
- Entertainment: Along with email, this can be a big driver. Three categories: music, multi-player games, and contests linked to TV. Indian audiences haven’t gamed much, so there is a huge opportunity out here. Music is obvious – but the ability to call-up music on demand will be good. Since TV is an integral part of the home, along with the schedules (like a TV-guide), we can have contests linked to the programmes to enhance loyalty.
Send in your feedback to techtalk@samachar.com.
