IMPORTANT:
Due to a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with our client, the
names of the solution and the client have been changed. All
changed names have been prefixed with an asterisk (*). |
On line Classifieds inc–
Online Classified Advertising for Automobiles, Real Estate &
Careers
On line Classifieds Inc., wanted to develop On line Classifieds
Inc. as a dynamic Web presence for online classified advertising
in various categories, the most popular ones being Automotive,
Real Estate, and Employment. Designed for US audiences, the
portal would allow buyers and sellers of automotives and real
estate to advertise online. Additionally, employers and job
seekers would be able to advertise and search for candidates
and job opportunities through the portal. Icreon developed On
line Classifieds Inc., realizing the strategy and target market
in focus. Incorporating user-friendly features, power search
capabilities and integration with payment gateways, On line
Classifieds Inc. has been developed to attract and manage large
network traffic. In addition, the portal allows contextual advertising,
enabling buyers and sellers to highlight their offers. With
these features and more, the portal intends to serve as the
largest storehouse of automotive, real estate, and employment
offers.
Customer
Profile
On line Classifieds Inc., is a US-based marketing concern that recently
commenced operations, targeting the classified advertising market.
Driven by the brand image of "Embark: Progress: Arrive"
the organization aims at becoming the largest warehouse of automotive,
employment and real estate listings.
Business
Requirement
On line Classifieds Inc. wanted to capitalize on the growing market
of classified advertising, covering three major categories -
automotives, real estate, and employment. To implement its strategy
of tapping business opportunities from a $16billion online classified
market in the US, the organization required a Web presence,
where buyers and sellers could advertise their products.
Solution
Benefits
Powerful and User-Friendly Search Capabilities
Customized Shopping Cart
Integration with Credit Payment Gateways
Easy-to-Use Contextual Selling Capabilities for Sponsored
Ads
Technologies Used
HTML
PHP Business Logic
MySQL
GD Library
Requirement
The online classifieds market is growing at an astounding rate
in the US. On line Classifieds Inc., identified this trend and wanted
to venture into this business using an online classified portal.
Catering to the needs of the US market, On line Classifieds wanted to
initiate the project with three most popular classified ad categories
- automotives, real estate, and employment. They required the
Web portal to allow buyers to place 'wanted' ads for any of
the categories and sellers to advertise classifieds for 'available'
products. A powered search would allow prospective buyers to
look for product listings and select the most suitable offer.
In addition, the portal required contextual advertising capabilities
for advertisers to customize and highlight their offers on the
portal.
Dynamic Web-Enabled
Solution for Empowered Classified Advertising
On line Classifieds Inc., realized that with the advent of the Internet
age, many offline classified advertisers were switching to the
online mode, where they would be able reach a wider audience.
The intention to formulate On line Classifieds Inc. was completely based
on the organization's strategy of exploiting the growing customer
base in the online classified advertising market. The success
of On line Classifieds Inc. would thereby, determine the successful implementation
of the organization's strategy. While On line Classifieds Inc., concentrated
on deciphering their marketing strategy to launch and use the
portal, we at Icreon designed the portal as an effective and
turnkey solution for the organization
On line Classifieds Inc. is a combination of plug-in modules for different
types of users. There are three sections on the portal - Automotive,
Employment and Real Estate. Each section functions
independently, providing advanced search capabilities. Using
this feature, buyers and sellers can look for relevant offers
based on various criteria such as, state, city, categories and
preferences. Catering to the needs of buyers, sellers, employers
and career seekers, the portal is segregated into two categories
- Wanted and Available. The Wanted category is
for people looking for automotives, real estate, or employment
listings and the Available category is for people who list their
products on On line Classifieds Inc.
In addition, the portal has been integrated with a credit card
payment gateway to allow online payments, for customers who
place classified ads with On line Classifieds Inc. Users can create
their user accounts and use the shopping cart to purchase any
of the product listings.
A unique feature of On line Classifieds Inc. is Contextual Advertising
or sponsored ads. It allows advertisers to customize ads and
highlight them as top listings within the relevant category
(automotive, real estate or employment). So, if an employer
places a classified ad on On line Classifieds Inc. for a specific profile,
using contextual selling, this job listing would appear among
the top job listings on the portal. This feature is administered
by the Administrator module for On line Classifieds Inc. A buyer or
seller can select from the Premier Sponsor or Paid Sponsor advertising
programs. For Premier Sponsor advertising, the administrator
needs to enable the purchase order feature for the applicant
or advertiser, which entitles the advertiser to a certain credit
limit for placing advertisements. In the Paid Sponsor program,
the advertiser needs to make payment through a credit card.
The portal authenticates the payment instantly and activates
the service.
Based on the business requirements and processes that had to
be implemented for On line Classifieds Inc., we suggested a 3-tier architecture
for high-performance and scalability. The technical architecture
for On line Classifieds Inc. is displayed below. |
 |
The front-end is designed using HTML,
while MySQL is the backend database for managing data integrity.
The PHP Business Logic layer ensures smooth flow of data between
the backend and the front-end. In addition, it is integrated
with the GD Graphics Library for retrieving & managing images
on the front-end. The entire architecture is designed for high
compatibility and performance in a distributed environment.
Summary
On line Classifieds Inc. is highly dynamic and database-driven portal
designed for easy usability and serves the business-critical
needs of On line Classifieds Inc. In this venture, On line Classifieds Inc achieved
its aim of developing a 'business-efficient' portal, while we
at Icreon ensured that the product met the client expectations
in all aspects.
|
|
