Kijiji

Case Study

Kijiji, a group of free, local, community-based classifieds websites, offers a convenient, fun, and easy way for people in the same city to meet, trade, share ideas, and help each other out in areas such as goods, cars, services, housing, jobs, and personals. The word "kijiji" (pronounced like key-gee-gee) means "village" in Swahili. This name was chosen because it captures the essence of what they are creating - a site where people can connect with others in their community. Kijiji sites are currently available in more than 1000 cities/neighborhoods around the world, serving over 17 million users across these markets and is a leading classifieds site.

Kijiji US covers 220 cities nationally. They were looking to provide their users with an appealing alternate to selecting cities via the classic list box. We proposed that they try our AreaSelector US States. This product allows visitors to select a state, dynamically zoom into it, and most important of all, the ability to populate the map with the cities of their choice, by taking each cities' respective latitude/longitude information directly from their database.

"With the number of cities, having a map that is easy to navigate is essential to the user experience!" states Selina Lam, who led the launch of Kijiji in the US.
Using real coordinates and retrieving the cities from the database, are both standard features of the AreaSelector product line. These features allow Kijiji to add new cities to the map by simply including them in their database. Once a new city has been saved to the database, it is automatically available on the map.

One of Kijiji's main concerns was being able to provide their users with the best experience possible and, at the same time, a really useful search tool. Selina went on to comment

"Our interactive map helps users quickly search for their local classifieds site. This project includes a capability for users get to their city by either zooming directly into the map or selecting their state / city using dropdown boxes. Additionally, the user can also enter their zip code and locate the Kijiji site nearest their hometown!"
Another key issue for Kijiji was to make the map perfectly fit the look and feel of the rest of their website. Since Flashmaps AreaSelector is fully customizable, it was a snap to implement the color scheme, fonts and icons they were looking for. As with any of our projects, we worked side by side with the client to ensure that they achieved all of the goals they originally set out to accomplish. We provided them with insight as to what options would work best for them and assisted them with every facet of the project.

Selena added
"Working with Flashmaps has been a great experience. The turnaround time was quick and the staff was very flexible with the project requirements. "
At the end of the day, the user is king. Kijiji users seem to be very happy with the new interactive map.

When we asking Selina what kind of feedback they are receiving, she stated that

"We receive terrific feedback all the time. Users think that the map is pretty cool. They love playing with the animated zoom, the pop-ups and the other interactive features".
It has been a real pleasure for Flashmaps to work with the team over at Kijiji. They have been extremely creative, open minded and professional. Congratulations on the great job, and thanks for choosing Flashmaps!

You probably have something in mind you'd like to buy or sell, maybe you're looking for a better job? Come find everything that's available in your back yard, make the connection at Kijiji!