Competitor Research for Blue-collared Job Platforms
Indian Blue-collared Job Platforms
Background
Competitive Research, as we know, is a great way to learn newer ways to serve our users by looking at the common problems that they might face while using a product and finding the right solutions for them. It also helps in figuring out why a certain competitor’s business is booming and how we can enhance our product in order to reach out to the greater mass of the market.
Keeping these in mind, I have recently signed up to check the onboarding flow on different Indian Blue-collared job platforms and made screen recordings of the entire experience.
The User Experience
The screen recordings of the experiences are linked here.
I have tabulated takeaways from my experience below -
Platforms |
Signed up as |
Takeaways |
GoodWorker |
Delivery Executive |
- Did not find an app so had to register through their website.
- The onboarding process was smooth and the platform did not ask for many details for initial sign up.
- Once I was signed up, I explored around and found a good number of educational videos on creating resumes, communication skills, preparing for interviews, etc.
- Languages available were based on a person’s knowledge of Hindi and English.
|
Apna |
Delivery Executive Logistics/Operations |
- Apna has an impressive UI and auto-detect OTP feature.
- Languages shown according to the location one chooses and based on the degree of grasp one has over the language. For example, I chose Kolkata, so it gave me options of English, little English with Hindi and little English with Bengali.
- The visiting card feature was really cool and looked fun too, though it seems the app failed to determine if the picture was of a human or something else.
- Asked basic questions regarding work experience and education, asked for positions I would like to work in. One can choose up to 4 positions. Thus, one gets onboarded and can start looking for jobs.
- App provides assistance, along with a tutorial video for guiding workers through the different features of the app.
- Noticed an instant chat facility while exploring that welcomes and asks if one needs career counselling.
- Social media like an approach to group chats and finding people in the same field or area.
- App provides a website dedicated to the worker showing his/her profile as we see on LinkedIn.
|
MyKaam |
Chef/Cook |
- The app opens up with more than 10 regional language options.
- Auto-detects contact numbers and OTP.
- Gives an option to choose one job position only and then asks to specify the level or type of specific position in that occupation.
- Ask about work experience, education, government ID as it opens up in the job section of the app.
- The profile section is quite simple and provides an option to connect with people who are signed up with the app.
- UI is quite simple, though has a section named ‘Popular’ which has an Instagram-like social media approach. This section works as a forum for posting jobs as well as putting up posts if one is looking for jobs.
|
GigIndia |
Wanted to sign up as Delivery Executive |
- The app is quite simple when comes to signing up.
- Noticed that the app asks for more information about an individual after the initial OTP verification.
- The application form asks if one has a wifi connection or a laptop, other salary preferences, which made me feel the app was better for grey or white collared jobs.
- The app asks for WhatsApp number verification.
- The app mostly had sales and marketing jobs.
|
Gigforce |
Delivery Executive |
- Opens up for language options, which are shown as English and Hindi.
- Auto-detects OTP, along with detecting the phone numbers used in the device.
- An individual can select up to 3 positions. Even has job position for farmers, which was something I didn’t notice in other apps.
- The app asks further questions based on the position/positions one has selected as their preference.
- One distinguishing feature of this app was asking for preferable days and part/parts of the day for working if an individual chooses the Part-time option.
- The app also asks if an individual has vehicular assets like a 2,3, or wheeler vehicle, other than asking about IT assets like a smartphone or laptop.
- The app asks for a profile picture at the end of the onboarding process.
- The app provides rewards to those individuals who help others set up a profile in the app.
|
Kaam24 |
Delivery/Field |
- Three primary language preference which are English, Hindi, and Marathi.
- No mobile number verification at the start. The app just asks for language preference and location settings and starts showing job.
- The app offers the option ‘Create Resume’ where one can start adding descriptive details about oneself asked by the app in the form of a basic application form.
- The app shows a range of job positions falling under blue-collared and grey collared jobs.
- After choosing the position for Delivery, the app asked me the kind of delivery that I would prefer, along with preferable cities where I would like to work.
- UI is simple with nothing out-of-the-box impressive.
- The app has been bothering me to pay 100 rupees as a registration fee..
|
Dhiyo |
Cook/Hotel Staff Deliver driver |
- Undoubtedly the most fun looking and hassle-free app.
- Has voice assistance to guide an individual through the features of the app. Also initially shows textual instructions for using the app.
- An individual can also use the voice assistance to fill in his/her profile details, or can opt for type facility. The voice assistance also works for searching jobs.
- The voice assistance works with 8 regional languages.
- Has more than 2 gender options.
- An individual can select up to 3 positions.
- Job profiles look impressive and one can apply or discard a job by clicking a tick and cross symbol on right and left while swiping up shows further details of the job. (The app makes the job profiles look more like someone’s dating app profile!)
|
Overall Learnings
- All companies provide an online as well as app-based signing up and onboarding option.
- Most of the apps (other than Dhiyo) are android based and do not have an iOS version. A possible reason can be that the apps focus mostly on blue-collared workers who in maximum cases won’t have a premium smartphone, like an iPhone.
- All the apps have multiple language options, out of which Hindi and Hinglish (which seems like a text-friendly language of Hindi and English) is the most common ones. Few apps also provide specific language features after a worker mentions his current location.
- Guiding an individual through the app would be something to think about.
- The voice assistance of Dhiyo was pretty impressive and something we can think of incorporating in our app.
- Regular competitive research of these apps along with newer apps will be a great way to improve marketing strategies, identify market gaps, and ultimately make our app more user-friendly.