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Gem4me MarketSpace: Next Generation App

Nov 12, 2021

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Gem4me MarketSpace can be undoubtedly called an app of the future which thanks to its unusual approach stands out on the market of messengers. While other platforms replicate each other's functions or look for some untypical solutions such as communication via photos or automatic deletion of messages, this one takes into account Gem4me users’ reviews and implements only really necessary options!

Let's take a look at the numbers. According to the results of the research conducted by We Are Social and Hootsuite, people spend more than half of their time on the Internet using their mobile devices. At the same time, according to App Annie's calculations, 10 out of 11 minutes people spend with their smartphones they use apps – these are mainly messengers and social networks, and as the result of the general transition to remote work, various services for online purchases and payments can be added to the list.

Against this background, the most convenient solution seems to be multifunctional programs with options for which users take their smartphones, i.e., to call or write someone, to scroll the Gem4me news feed or buy something. All these actions can be done in Gem4me MarketSpace.



What is Gem4me MarketSpace

Gem4me MarketSpace is a multifunctional online platform for communication and trading. It is a free mobile and web app that has:

• a messenger;

• a platform for channels and blogs;

• a marketplace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX5Or8nRwRA

In terms of available functions, only WeChat can be compared with it, but only residents of China can use it to the fullest. Unlike WeChat, all Gem4me MarketSpace’s functions are fully available in 170 countries, including Russia and countries of the CIS. Thereby, Gem4me messenger has no analogs on the international market.

About the company 

A group of European companies is working on the project. Gem4me Group of Companies consists of:

• the owner of the intellectual rights to the messenger – Gem4me Holdings LTD, registered in the European Union (Malta);

• the developer of the trading platform – Estonian company Marketspace Solutions OÜ;

• investors;

• investment fund, etc.

Such a legal structure is because Gem4me MarketSpace is a large-scale and multifunctional project. Till 2018, it was a simple messenger, but then it was joined by Marketspace Solutions OÜ which created Market Space.



 

Now Gem4me messenger and Gem4me MarketSpace marketplace are two sections of one app, they have a uniform style and are integrated with each other.

Gem4me MarketSpace Development Team

Who was entrusted to develop such a sophisticated product? After all, a service is not only a unique set of functions, but a platform with interconnected and, accordingly, precisely coordinated functions.

Synesis – a well-known all over the world company which is the main resident of Skolkovo and the creator of Viber – contributed to the development of the messenger. Among those who also became members of the Gem4me team, there were participants in such serious projects as Playrix (ranked third among the creators of mobile games in the world), Yandex and Mail.ru.


The development is carried out on the basis of the High Technologies Park. It is a special economic zone that has favorable conditions for the development of IT products. In fact, it is a Belarusian analog of Silicon Valley.

In one of his interviews, Vahe Zakaryan, the head of the development team, told about the principles the specialists who work on the project are guided by. “There are lots of schemes and ways for invention and implementation of new ideas. Our project uses the dogfooding practice. Dogfooding (eating your dog’s food) means "at first try it by yourself and then offer it to others". It implies that all members of the team, from directors to technical support specialists, use Gem4me on a daily basis. Thanks to this practice, developers are fully involved in the process of product improvement,” told Vahe Zakaryan.

The company not only successfully gathered top IT specialists but also efficiently organized their work by dividing them into 3 groups:

• 2 “product” groups responsible for the development of new functions;

• 1 core group which deals only with the technical component (its members detect and fix errors, improve app performance and the program code).

Moreover, developers are also divided into teams depending on the platform they work on (Android, iOS or Web). Such a division allows each department to focus on the responsibilities and specific features of its platform.

At the same time, the work is organized according to the Japanese principle of Kanban, when the process of development is transparent for all its participants, they can see the whole general array of tasks but perform only those related to them.

History of Gem4me MarketSpace development

Reviewing Gem4me MarketSpace development, it can be seen that the app has transformed from a simple messenger into a new generation multifunctional service. It doesn’t come as quite a surprise because any complex idea should be implemented step by step.

What is more, all key stages of development can be tracked: the team does not keep them secret, but, on the contrary, shares the details of already released and planned updates.

At first, it was just a messenger that had only basic functions for calls and messaging –this is what Gem4me was when it appeared in the App Store and Google Play in 2016. The number of installs for the year after its first release amounted to 2.8 million.

Till 2019, all the efforts of its creators were focused on the improvement of functions for communication. Directions for development were not only suggested in the reviews of Gem4me users and customers but also influenced by the experience of competitors. Many features of Gem4me messenger prove that the developers have carefully analyzed the mistakes of others (for example, problems concerning privacy, battery drain, etc.) and tried to prevent them.

In parallel, a separate group of specialists worked on a test version of MarketSpace – a trading platform that was expected to complement the messenger. In 2019, the team finished the main stage of the development and released the app with a marketplace.

But it was only the beginning of the active development of the platform. 2020 became a year of updated design and functions since Gem4me app experienced considerable external and internal modifications. Its interface became more minimalistic, modern and convenient, the messenger and MarketSpace got a uniform style and a range of new options.

Service redesign

In fact, one of the boosters for Gem4me app redesign was the lockdown which made people spend more time on the Internet and in messengers in particular, which became the main means of convenient and safe communication.

Here is a brief overview of the Gem4me MarketSpace features that were added between May and December 2020:



The result of such thorough work is confirmed by the numbers: in 2020, the coverage of countries increased to 163, the number of installs – to 13.6 million. It is too early to evaluate the results for 2021, but this year the team has worked on the service as actively as in the previous one (therefore, it’s not surprising that the number of installs has grown to 18 million, and the geographical distribution of users covers 170 countries). Below there are listed key updates of 2021:



As you can see, a lot of useful options and functions have appeared in the service for quite a short period of time. These changes will be considered in more detail in the review of Gem4me MarketSpace functions.

Gem4me MarketSpace: review of main functions

The interface of Gem4me app is divided into 3 blocks, between which you can switch using the buttons at the bottom of the screen:

• Section 1 – “Chats”: communication between users (messaging, calls, video conferences);

• Section 2 – “Channels”: a collection of all blogs, Gem4me news portals and public interest groups available on the platform;

• Section 3 – “MarketSpace”: a trading platform where users can place and view ads from individuals and companies; it can be compared to Avito, but unlike it, Gem4me MarketSpace gathers sellers and buyers from different countries.

What do all 3 sections have in common? First of all, security and privacy. All information the users exchange goes through a direct connection and does not get to third-party servers, that’s why there are no risks of personal data theft.

Another common feature is low energy consumption if compared to other messengers (for example, for Android it amounts to only 0.3%).

Let’s take a closer look at the features of the app and consider each functional block separately.

Messenger

Section “Chats” has all standard functions of messengers: here users can exchange text and voice messages, send emoji, stickers, media and documents.

Among the peculiarities of Gem4me messenger there are:

• ability to edit messages after their sending and delete them without the mark that it was deleted;

• a wide range of unique themed sticker packs (for example, for school parent chats);

• sending files of different types and sizes (even large ones);

• secure protection of personal data: an advanced standard approved by US government agencies is used for data encryption, as well as for ensuring the security of top-secret information.

Chats can be private and group. To create a new conversation, you will need:

1. To click on the icon of the pencil at the bottom right.

2. To select “New message” if you need a one-on-one dialogue, or “Create a group chat” if more than 2 participants are planned in the conversation.

3. To mark users who will enter the chat. These people must be registered in Gem4me MarketSpace. In case someone from your acquaintances doesn’t use the app, you can send them an invitation via SMS by clicking “+” at the bottom right.

When the list of participants is ready, you must create a name for it, as well as (optionally) add a description and cover.

You can invite up to 1000 people to a group conversation – pretty enough for any purposes, for example, for corporate chats of large organizations.

Calls

There are 3 types of calls in group chats:

• ordinary call – it starts without video, but during a call you can turn on the camera;

• video – the camera is on by default (but you can turn it off), and all participants can talk at the same time;

• conference – a controlled format of calls in which the initiator decides whether or not to turn on/off the interlocutors' microphones, at the same time when someone wants to speak they can “raise their hand” using a special button.

During a call, you can not only turn on the camera but also share the screen of the device, so you have an opportunity to hold a full-fledged webinar, presentation, etc.

Channels

In the “Channels” category, you can subscribe to various blogs posted by users. Visually, they look like chats where you can’t write but can only read other Gem4me users’ reviews and publications and rate them using “quick reactions” (a set of emoji). If you want to post your own content, you can create a new channel for free:

1. Press the red button (at the bottom right);

2. Select “Create a channel”;

3. Choose a name, category and type for your channel: open ones can be joined by anyone, while closed ones can be joined only by invitation;

4. Set an address of the link by which new members can join the channel;

5. Add description and cover (optional).

All data can be later edited, so if you decide to change your blog settings, you will face no problems. By the way, here it is easier to find channels and subscribe to them than, for example, in Telegram. You shouldn’t install any bots. You just go to the catalog, select the desired category (there are 14 of them here) and join the channel you like.

Except for sorting by topics, there are also categories “Popular” and "Top fastest-growing channels", i.e., you can see at once which channels other Gem4me users are particularly interested in.

Marketplace

Trading in Market Space includes placing ads from individuals or legal entities. All types of goods and services can be offered for sale. Compliance with legal requirements is obligatory, as all ads are checked by moderators.

You can add to your ad a photo, video and a detailed description of the product up to its dimensions, model and manufacturer. Moreover, shipping terms are specified as well, so users could only see only those items that sellers can send to their country.

How Gem4me MarketSpace can be downloaded

Gem4me MarketSpace can be downloaded for free in the App Store and Google Play. After installation, users go through a simple registration process:

1. You must specify the phone number that will be linked to the account, and your friends will be able to find you in the application by this number. It is important to note that users who don’t have you in their contact list will not be able to see your number. This way Gem4me messenger ensures the privacy of its users.

2. For the confirmation of the specified number, you will receive either an automatic call that should be rejected or an SMS with a code that should be entered in the appropriate field.

3. After that, you must specify a name and a personal nickname that all Gem4me users will see.

After creating an account in the mobile app Gem4me, the service will also be available on a PC: on the official Gem4me website, you can go to the web version to open the messenger directly in the browser tab.

Opportunities for Sellers and Buyers in MarketSpace

For business owners (no matter whether it is small or large), Gem4me MarketSpace is a free platform for promotion where buyers find sellers by themselves.

The key advantage of MarketSpace as a platform for online trading is that all stages of the bargain take place in one service which is very convenient for both clients and entrepreneurs:

1. A vendor places an ad on the site providing all necessary information about the product.

2. A buyer finds the ad in the general feed or an interesting to them category.

3. Then the user contacts the seller by clicking the corresponding button in the ad. A link to the product of interest is automatically attached to the message, so you don't have to waste time trying to figure out which item the potential client writes about.

4. Details and terms of the order can be discussed via messaging or by voice. If you want, it is also possible to ask the seller to show you a video of the product.

5. Money for the order and delivery can be transferred directly through the app. To make it, you needn’t enter the payment details manually, since they are already tied to your account, thus payment can be made with a few clicks.


Therefore, the main difference between this marketplace and others is a more advanced level of communication between the parties to the transaction. However, these are not all advantages of the marketplace. Since Gem4me app is used in 170 countries, for companies it means reaching an international audience, and for buyers – access to goods from all over the world.

Gem4me advantages for bloggers and subscribers

If before we learned something new and interesting through websites and forums, now there is a more modern format – channels in messengers. Why do many people prefer it? To say the least, it is convenient, since you needn’t minimize the app, open the browser and look for what to read when you have free time.

In modern messengers (such as Gem4me, Telegram, Viber), you can subscribe to dozens of blogs and news feeds and read them in the same service that you use for communication. But in our opinion, Gem4me MarketSpace has a range of advantages for its subscribers and bloggers over its competitors.

Among the advantages, there is, first of all, a catalog of channels which has not been implemented in any of the popular instant messengers yet. Usually, you search for interesting channels on the Internet, trusting the opinion of others, and only after that find these channels by their names in the app. Another option is to utilize special bots, relying on their algorithms which are not always flawless.

In Gem4me, everything is organized much more conveniently: you just go to the “Channels” section, open the catalog, select the necessary filter (by topics, popularity or subscriber growth for the last month) and see all suitable options.

Another problem that, unlike other platforms, the service does not have is the chaos with chats and blogs in the general feed. When personal messages and channels are in Section 1, you have to spend more time to find the necessary dialogue, and sometimes you can miss an important message simply because it has gone far down the feed.

Therefore, Gem4me MarketSpace has a separate section for channels, which is, according to developers and users, a much more efficient solution.

Another important factor is content presentation. Readers get tired of trite posts in which empty lines, hyphens and emoji are the only used “handy” formatting tools. That’s why the developers of Gem4me MarketSpace have created a pleasant design and various types of publications:

• ordinary messages;

• photos and albums;

• audio;

• video;

• links with preview;

• articles in which you can style headings, lists, paragraphs, and add any media or links.

In the future, the team is going to introduce even more types of content, for example, polls, with the help of which channels activity can be boosted pretty well.

Therefore, bloggers-beginners and those who face problems with the promotion in other messengers should definitely pay attention to this platform. Here competition is relatively low since the channels appeared not long ago, and the choice of the start direction is not limited only to financial and personal growth, while various topics are in demand, from Gem4me news and information blogs to culinary recipes.

In terms of channel monetization, there are several possibilities for this:

• to offer paid advertising to sellers on the marketplace, because they gladly cooperate with channels with a large audience;

• to use your blog as a free channel for your own advertising. By doing so, you can promote goods and services placed not only in MarketSpace, but also on third-party services (AliExpress, Amazon, etc.).

The effectiveness of monetization is stipulated by the fact that most people use the service not only for communication but also for shopping. Thus, if potential buyers see an interesting product in one or another channel, it will be relevant for them.

Prospects of Gem4me MarketSpace development

Although the app is already ahead of other popular products on the market of messengers in terms of its functions, such leading position is not the main goal of the team. New options are introduced to make the product versatile, useful and handy for users, not to outdo competitors.

Nowadays all spheres of life are moving to the digital, and the requirements for IT products are becoming more strict. So it is not time to make pauses in development. Therefore, Gem4me MarketSpace does not plan to slow down the pace of its development, as according to the reviews of Gem4me users and customers, people still want the app functions to be improved.

Here are the most interesting options, whose development has already been announced:

• acquiring – the ability to issue invoices, pay for purchases and delivery, transfer money to friends and acquaintances. This function is already actively used in Canada and the United States, and for residents of other countries it will become available by the end of 2021;

• ratings of sellers and stores – it is planned to add Gem4me customers’ reviews and ratings to vendor profiles so that users could learn firsthand about the bargain specifics, the impression of communication, etc. On this basis, the ratings of the best sellers will be formed, which will motivate them to improve the quality of offered goods, services and customer service;

• history of calls – you can see information about all incoming and outgoing calls;

• drafts and delayed messages – an option useful not only for chats but also for blogs; thanks to it, publications can be made at a strictly defined time regardless of whether you have access to the app or not;

• recording video calls – an indispensable function for business and educational conferences;

• streaming – live streams for channel subscribers. Bloggers will be able to make live streams, broadcasting video from their camera or showing the screen of their devices. This is a popular way of communication with members of game channels, news feeds and personal blogs. Push notifications will help you not to miss the stream (you can turn them off if you don’t need them);

• augmented reality masks – this is how the most popular masks from Instagram are called. Now they are available in other social networks (Tik Tok, Snapchat), and soon they will appear in Gem4me as well;

• more bots – for the time being there are 2 bots in the catalog: Welcomer that helps new users get used to Gem4me app, and Translator that knows 17 languages. In the future, the catalog of bots will be replenished with new interesting programs;

• festive animations – to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Gem4me messenger's operation, there has appeared a little bonus: now the texts are animated with a colorful picture with a gift and balloons. The developers plan to expand and personalize this option to make congratulations even more lively and exciting.

From the Gem4me MarketSpace review, it is clear that this service provides more opportunities than other messengers, and it is not going to stop its development.

Yes, now it doesn’t have such popularity as the giants of the market, but its audience is growing steadily. As history shows, there are no eternal leaders, so it is possible that in a few years Gem4me may be among the top of most used apps!

Tags: English