Classified App Development Cost and Key Features

With the advent of digital technologies, we have seen a lot of revolutions in tons of traditional activities. We begin by changing how we used to communicate from calls to SMS to online chats, and now we are witnessing significant transformations in buying and selling of things. People are no longer restrained from meeting for the exchange of goods and services physically. The prime example of this system is Classified app development.

The Classified app development allows people to buy and sell goods from an online marketplace from anywhere in their geographic region. Popular classified apps like OLX or Quickr are performing in an awesome manner. That’s why customers are opting for them to find and buy the needed things or to sell something which no longer provides any value to them. On these classified apps, you can find items of any purpose such as furniture, electronics, cars, bikes, etc. These global classified mobile apps allow users to communicate, negotiate, and make a deal easily and quickly. Also, these apps are not just limited to users but many small and medium-sized businesses are also leveraging classified mobile app development to increase revenue and sales.

In this article, we will go through various aspects of classified app development. We will cover its features, cost to develop, benefits, and much more. Thus, if you are an entrepreneur who is considering this idea for development, this is the article you have rightly landed on.

What is Classified App Development?

Classified apps are online marketplaces on which users can buy and sell goods directly to each other in various categories such as automobiles, electronics, furniture, jobs, pets, etc. These apps are highly popular among users, giving them high convenience, variety, and affordability. Users just need to register themselves on the platform and now they can browse through thousands of products, compare prices and features, and directly contact the sellers to negotiate and make a deal.

They can also sell products that are of no use to them easily. For businesses, classified apps as a cost-effective option to reach a large and segmented audience for sales and also increase brand awareness. Businesses can use classified apps to showcase their products and services, advertise their offers and discounts, and communicate with potential customers.

However, developing a classified mobile app is not everyone’s cup of tea. Only experienced mobile app developers like us have the required expertise to develop a top-notch classified app.

Types of Classified Apps Development:

On the basis of the business model, there are different types of classified apps. The target market and niche of these apps are also different. Here are the major types of classified apps:

General Classified Apps:

These are the common classified apps which cover a wide range of categories and cater to a broad audience. Some of the popular general classified apps are OLX, Quickr, Craiglist, etc.

Vertical Classified Apps:

Vertical classified apps focus on a specific category and are built for a particular audience. Some of the popular examples of Vertical Classified Apps are Zillow (Real Estate), Indeed (jobs), Carousell (fashion), etc.

Hyperlocal Classified Apps:

These are the apps that focus on a certain location or area and appeal to a local audience. Hyperlocal classified apps include Letgo, OfferUp, and Facebook Marketplace, among others.

Market Statistics of Classified Apps Market:

Although you may have begun looking for a classified app development company before making a deal, you should also be aware of the market insights.

With the increasing penetration of the internet in every possible corner of the globe, the global online classified is growing at a great pace. The Online Classified market is expected to increase from USD 126.00 billion in 2024 to USD 741.47 billion by 2032, with a compound yearly growth rate (CAGR) of 24.80% over the forecast period (2024-2032). In addition, the Online Classified market was estimated to be worth USD 100.96 billion in 2023.

Benefits of Classified Apps:

Classified apps offer several benefits to buyers, sellers, users, or businesses. A few of the major benefits are:

Convenience

Users get a convenient way to buy and sell goods through classified mobile app development. They get access to the app anytime, anywhere, and through any device. It helps them save time and money by avoiding travel and intermediaries.

Variety

Classified apps have a huge variety of options for the users. It is easy for the users to find anything they want whether new or used. They can discover unique products which may not be easily available in the market.

Affordability

In comparison to other marketplaces which often charge hefty commissions, the classified apps become a cheaper option. Users can directly contact to the buyers or sellers and negotiate the price without paying any hefty commission.

Reach

Classified apps give businesses a big and focused reach when marketing their products and services online. Businesses may contact millions of potential clients who are actively searching for their products. Businesses can also target certain client segments based on factors such as location, preferences, and behavior.

Brand Awareness

For businesses or brands, a classified app acts as a perfect platform to increase brand awareness. Businesses can showcase their products and services and provide useful information and tips, interact with customers.

Must-Have Features for Classified Apps:

If you are interested in developing a classified app, you must give strong priority to its features. You can take reference of existing Classified apps like Craigslist and OLX as well. The features will be decided as per the entity which are users and admin. Here are the major features to include in the Classified app:

User Panel:

Register and Login:

Users should be able to easily log in and register on the app through mobile numbers, passwords and emails. You can also provide a social media login for easy onboarding of the users.

Posting Advertisements:

The core functionality of the app is to post advertisements. The users should able to submit an add by providing necessary information in text format, price, photos, videos, or any other specific data.

Location:

The users can look for the ads in a particular location, thus before doing a search or generating an ad posting, users should be able to pick a location.

Search bar:

Searching is probably the first feature by which users interact with your store. Thus, the search functionality should be robust and should deliver fast and relevant results.

Sorting Filters:

There should be multiple filters for the search results page like Price, Most Recent, Popularity, and Nearest.

Contact Details:

This option will allow users to inquire about the product from the seller. They will get the contact details of the seller for further negotiation and dealing.

Upload or Browse Pictures:

Photographs of products give a better understanding to both buyers and sellers. Thus, the users must be able to upload photographs of the products for selling.

Admin Panel Features:

We are assuming that the login functionality will be by default for secure login. Here are the other features:

User Management

The admin should be able to manage the users, including their requests, onboarding, inquiries, and so on.

Manage Service Providers

The administrator provides the support that the service provider requires.

Listing Management:

If there is an issue with a listing on the website, the administrator can easily fix it with the listing management tool. It includes category management as well.

Database Management:

This feature allows admins to manage all database-related queries such as information retrieval, addition, and update.

Payments Management

The administration has access to all the payment-related information.

Advanced Features for Classified App Development:

After the MVP stage, if you are getting good feedback for your app from the users then you can consider implementing advanced features. Here are the major advanced features to implement in classified app development:

a. In-App Chat and Call:

With this feature, the buyers and sellers would be able to communicate with each other for any query such as product price, discount, address, etc.

b. Phone Number Masking:

With this feature, the sellers and buyers could connect on call without sharing their personal contact numbers or any other contact details. It helps in maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of users’ information.

c. Multi-lingual Support:

If you are considering developing a marketplace app to serve multiple nations then you must implement multi-lingual functionality. It will allow every user from any region or country can understand the app.

d. Efficient CRM:

An efficient CRM integration will help you serve your customers and also use their data to deliver personalized services.

e. Real-time Analytics:

This functionality allows administrators to monitor all activity within the app. He receives thorough data and analytical reports to analyze and track KPIs such as user retention and acquisition rates, customer satisfaction rates, and so on. All of this information can help you make important decisions.

Steps to Follow For Classified App Development:

It is quite a complex and challenging process to develop a classified app. It involves careful planning, execution, and testing. Here are the major steps that you have to follow for classified app development:

a. Market Research:

Firstly, you have to decide your target audience and which market you want to tap on. It also includes the geographic locations, users habits, platform i.e. iOS and Android and others. Does your audience use only iOS devices, Android devices or both? Is there a scope for reselling within the audience or do they prefer to buy only new products? Answers to these questions will help you do proper market research.

b. Find a reliable partner:

After the market research, you have to hire mobile application developers who can bring your vision into digital reality. While hiring a mobile application development company, you should give weightage to factors like prior experience, client feedback, reviews and ratings, etc.

c. Design:

After choosing the app development company, they will start creating the design of your classified app from scratch. The design should be highly attractive and captivating for the users. Once the design is completed, the screens will be handed over to the front-end development team.

d. Development:

The frontend developers will start working on the designs while the backend developers will start working on features and functionalities simultaneously. They will consider the implementation of all features which was mentioned in the scope of work.

e. QA Testing:

After the development phase, the QA team will check for the underlying issues or bugs in the app. They have to ensure that the app is having no functional or design-related issues. Furthermore, they also have to check if the app is meeting the desired security and performance or not.

f.  Deployment and Launch:

After the signoff from the QA team, the app is ready to deploy on the server and launch on the app stores.

How much does it cost to develop a Classified App?

There are a plethora of factors that will influence the Classified App Development cost such as:

a. Features and Functionalities:

The more features and functionalities in the app, there will be more time required to develop the app, and the more its development cost. Thus, it is better to first develop the necessary features and once it starts getting positive responses from the users, you can implement advanced features.

b. Complexity:

If the complexity of the features is much higher than the generic hours, the developers have to put in more efforts which increase the cost of the app.

c. Platform:

If you want to develop an app for Android and iOS, the Android version will be less costly. However, we always recommend going for cross-platform app development i.e. using a framework like React Native. It will allow using a single codebase for developing apps for both iOS and Android.

d. Location of the development team:

This is probably the biggest factor that decides the development cost. A mobile application development team working in North America or Eastern Europe will charge at $80-$120 per hour. On the other side, a mobile app development company in Southeast Asian countries like India, Malaysia, Singapore etc. will charge $25-$40 per hour and deliver the same quality.

Thus, we always recommend choosing the best mobile app development company in India. They provide both quality and professionalism at highly reasonable rates.

As per our estimation, it will cost around $15,000 to $25,000 to develop a standard classified app considering the hourly costs at $25 per hour.

Conclusion:

In this article, we have gone through all the major aspects of classified mobile app development. As people are moving online, they prefer to buy and sell things online. At Ebizneeds, the best mobile app development company in India, we are having expertise in developing robust mobile apps. Let us know your requirements.