The Situation

Users and business owners spend thousands of dollars hiring a work force to answer emails and sit by their computers waiting for business transactions. This in turn would raise the cost of items on the VG Auction site and throughout the virtual economy (which is estimated to be a 9.6 billion dollar industry by 2009). Over the past 10 years the auction market has struggled due to an influx in business conducted on the internet and owners being overwhelmed with business.

The Solution

VG Auction wanted to implement a way to alert members on the site when their item has been sold, bidded on, a question has been asked, a bid has been placed, and other various options send via text message to the user's mobile phone. Clickatell’s SMTP API was the perfect solution to provide this service.

The Results

VG Auction’s users now spend far fewer hours in front of the computer. The service allows them to step away from their computer and only tend to business on the site after they receive SMS alerts. By saving money for VG Auction’s customers, prices drop and more items and products are posted.