Expanding Horizons to Embrace the Bus Commuter Market
Reading time: 3 minutes
Author: Oliver Parkinson, Chief Operations Officer
Sebenza Wi-Fi is excited to announce our 2023-2025 strategic business strategy and focus shift. Formerly concentrated on deploying devices within the mini-bus taxi industry, Sebenza has now focused on understanding the diverse commuter profiles in the formalised metro, student, mining, and staff bus environments.
Navigating the bus transport industry
This new direction serves two essential purposes: expanding our offering beyond the mini-bus taxi industry and gaining a deeper understanding of the intricacies of South Africa’s commuter landscape. While initial engagements scratch the surface, delving into the various commuter profiles reveals the astonishing diversity within the South African commuter space.
At a surface level, bus installations cater to the commuters who make daily journeys to and from work, spending an average of 45-60 minutes in transit. These commuters rely on formalised fare collection methods and vouchers rather than cash payments prevalent in taxi fares. Within this demographic, we find individuals between 30 and 60 years who possess a basic understanding of technology and leverage it for communication, browsing social media, and staying connected with loved ones. This group perfectly aligns with the “first phase” of our platform solution, engaging with our brands, watching advertisements, and completing surveys to earn our digital currency (SebenzaBucks) that someone can redeem for free data.
Delving into a diverse commuter base
Now, consider the student bus commuter demographic, a generation born into the digital age. They value data and frequently purchase it. This demographic’s tech-savviness poses a unique challenge for the “first phase” of our solution, but it also presents an opportunity. These students skilfully manage their lives through many apps and online services, making them ideal candidates for our platform’s ultimate vision—to facilitate engagement, transactions, and sharing of our products, partners, and services.
Sebenza is only beginning to uncover the intricacies of our country’s diverse commuter base. Each profile’s traits, characteristics, and demographics contribute to distinct tiers within our engagement levels. This exploration is an exciting journey, allowing us to unlock the relevance of our content, services, and impression models within the Sebenza platform.
Creating a thriving ecosystem
Engaging with bus commuters allows Sebenza to forge closer relationships with these individuals. Unlike the taxi market, bus commuters tend to exhibit loyalty to their bus company and chosen route. Sebenza aims to create a thriving ecosystem that drives transactions and product engagement on our platform by fostering trust and increased engagement through our surveys, brands, products, products, and services.
Sebenza has partnered strategically with prominent bus companies catering to diverse demographics to further our understanding of the formal bus commuter market and validate our assumptions. These partnerships encompass various segments, including metro, students, staff, and mining buses. While these collaborations are still in their early stages, we anticipate they will provide us with invaluable insights, enabling us to refine and expand our solution to cater to both formal bus commuters and the informal taxi market.
Sebenza can leverage its credibility and industry expertise to foster increased engagement and enhance user retention by joining forces with established bus companies and other key players. These strategic alliances empower us to precisely target our campaigns and tailor our products to meet the specific needs of our brands and the commuters who rely on our platform. These concerted efforts align seamlessly with Sebenza’s overarching mission of promoting digital inclusivity and bridging the digital divide within mini-bus taxis and bus commuting environments.
As we continue to forge ahead with these partnerships, we are confident they will facilitate a deeper understanding of the formal bus commuter market, allowing us to evolve our offerings and remain relevant. Simultaneously, we remain committed to addressing the unique challenges and opportunities the informal taxi market presents. Sebenza’s dedication to digital inclusivity, innovation, and the provision of valuable services remains unwavering as we navigate the dynamic landscape of commuter connectivity.