Will savvy US consumers soon be navigating shopping malls with the help of a Russian mobile application? This vision of the future may well come to be in a year or two, according to Wizee CEO Anton Lebedev who exchanged views with East-West Digital News.
Already available at the Apple App Store and on Android Market, the mobile application provides a wide range of mall maps and information on shopping malls, individual shops, products and discounts available at various retailers. Updated versions of the app are slated to carry city maps as well.
Wizee claims over 50,000 downloads since its release in May this year, with 33,000 active users and over 3,000 daily users. In its current release, the service has only been deployed in three Russian cities, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk. Lebedev has plans, however, to cover shopping venues in all major cities in Russia and other former Soviet republics.
In a second stage of development, the ambitious Russian startup will seek international expansion. “Our application is more convenient, more reliable, and faster than US analogs Fastmall and Point Inside,” says Lebedev, who has been encouraged by potential investors to look at the American market.
Wizee expects to generate its first revenue streams before the end of the year. Its business model relies on coupons, with users buying a 20% discount for $1, for example, or retail chains subsidizing the coupons. Another planned source of revenues will come from advertising. “Information about products, new stores, or discounts can and will be presented as useful advice rather than as advertisement,” believes Lebedev. “Wizee is like a magazine or a billboard, but interactive and portable.”
Wizee has no direct competitors in Russia, with the exception of applications made by some malls or brands. The startup was founded in early 2011 by young Moscow entrepreneurs Anton Lebedev, Denis Kurkov and Vladimir Martynov. It received initial support from Swedish and Russian angel investors and is now in discussions with Western and Russian venture funds for a more significant round of financing.
