 "Free rechargers: The bargain hunters of smartphone users")
With more than 80% of the Indian mobile market dominated by pre-paid users, bargain deals that give access to internet for free or give extra talk-time are most sought after.
Players like Earn Talktime, an ad funded wallet, is giving users not only free talktime but also allowing them to earn money by downloading mobile applications and exploring them.
Earn Talktime, launched in December 2013 by Delhi-based RationalHeads Technologies that claims to be the leader in this segment, aims to touch revenue of $10 million for FY16. The app has been downloaded by 13 million users in the last 24 months, with the company now targeting this to hit 50 million in the next 24 mths.
Sandeep Mirakhur, co-founder, and CEO Rationalheads Technologies, an ex-Airtel executive said that one of the biggest impediments when they approached businesses was paying for data.
"We realised that if we subsidise data users were ready to get onto the internet. The other part is that every business that has an online presence wants to acquire customers. We allow users to come to our platform and check apps for free. They do not pay or pay for the data for the apps that they check from our app," added Mirakhur.
He further states that data and telecom cost take 15% of a user's share of wallet in India. It is also the biggest inhibitor to mobile app adoption by users especially the early adopters like the youth.
Mirakhur also added that on a daily basis more than 60 apps are getting promoted on their platform. "We are making around $1 million in revenue on monthly basis, and we had started from as less as $10,000. We are a profit making company," he added.
The company claims to have a growth rate of 110% in 2015-16, and has captured 40% market share of mobile advertising Ad-funded Wallet industry and aims to grow at 50% y-o-y over the next three years, as it adds new products and expands into geographies outside of India.
Other than giving new age start-ups a ready access of consumer base to approach when a new app gets featured, platform like Earn Talktime is also allowing users to earn money in their mobile wallet which can then be redeemed against recharge in case of a prepaid mobile connection or towards payment of a postpaid mobile, landline, DTH bills and much more.
Till date, Earn Talktime has dispersed over Rs 50 crore. Mirakhur says that users on an average can earn over Rs 200 per month or about Rs 1,800-2,000 a year only by downloading apps.
"We have Earn Talktime brand ambassadors, these users are the most active users who not only try new apps but also invite new users to our platform. Of the 13 million users we have about half a million are brand ambassadors and who end up earning around Rs 3,000 a month," he added.
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Earn Talktime is not the only player doing this in the Indian market. Recently, Times Internet acquired majority stake in Taskbucks and invested $15 million in the Gurgaon-based company formed in 2014. There is Chennai-based Airloyal's Ladoo among others.
Unlike other start-ups players in this segment are not looking for raising investments simply because most of them are making good money and are profitable. "As a founder I am not interested in raising money and getting promoters on board. We may prefer a complete sell-off," said Mirakhur.
Over 350 emerging and established Indian brands such as Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon, Gaana, Paytm and Shopclues amongst others are utilising the Earn Talktime crowd sourcing platform to engage with their potential target audience on mobile and gain insights on the mobile app space.
Currently, brands from all major categories have a presence on the Earn Talktime platform. 85% of digital adoption on the platform can be attributed to e-commerce applications followed by mobile wallets that have seen 82% downloads. Music apps (69%), Taxi apps (43%) and Travel apps (42%) are other popular categories that have witnessed adoption and sampling by a leading percentage of users.