An MTN version of South Africa's online shopping and price comparison directory, PriceCheck.co.za, is planned to be launched for the local market.

The announcement, which was made yesterday, sees PriceCheck partner with MTN Group for the release of a co-branded mobile application of the price comparison directory.

According to a statement, the app would be available across all MTN devices, and in app stores for Android, BlackBerry, Windows and iOS devices. It will also be pre-loaded on the MTN Steppa device.

PriceCheck's chief executive officer André de Wet stated the online and mobile service is “making shopping easier and more relevant for the consumer, all the while mimicking real life behaviour."

He added, "Less than 1% of retail happens online, yet as much as 40% of the buying decision process starts on mobile. We are now in a position to impact that crucial moment of influence. The future of commerce is on mobile and together with MTN, PriceCheck is closing the loop."

The statement says the application will feature PriceCheck's existing functionality, including product and service price comparison, product reviews, store details and a barcode scanner to double check prices.

MTN Group chief commercial officer, Pieter Verkade said, "The partnership with PriceCheck marks another important step in our expansion into the digital space, particularly into e-commerce and will allow customers to find the best deal wherever they go.

“Whereas our customers in South Africa will be first to enjoy the benefits of this relationship, plans are already underway to introduce a local version of the app in other markets in the region."

From e-commerce to m-commerce

Spiwe Chireka, programme manager for Telecoms (Africa Region) at the International Data Corporation told ITWeb Africa that there is a growing trend for traditional e-commerce providers to move towards the mobile space.

“Until three years ago e-commerce was limited to the web, now there is a trend towards m-commerce, which is online purchases via a mobile phone,” she explained.

“The reason for this, particularly in South Africa, is that there is greater mobile penetration versus computer or laptop penetration. Almost everyone has a mobile phone,” she added.

According to Chireka, mobile operators are also looking for alternative revenue streams and part of that strategy is to drive data uptake in South Africa. To access data-driven applications, a customer will require data-enabled devices.

“This therefore becomes a win-win situation for e-commerce sites as well as the mobile operators,” she said.

One of IDC’s predictions for this year is that there would be a stronger integration between mobile and payments. “South African mobile operators are going to play a significant role in adjacent markets like finance and retail. This partnership between MTN and PriceCheck could be seen as the direction that e-commerce is taking,” said Chireka.

PriceCheck is owned by South African-based multinational mass media company, Naspers.

On a monthly average, PriceCheck receives in excess of 1.5 million unique shoppers searching for products on its web and mobile sites.