New app’s rapid growth shows businesses, consumers are eager to connect

Connecto, the smartphone app that provides a business connection hub for consumers, signed up 50 customers within three weeks of its launch and is continuing to grow faster than expected, says CEO Lee Hartman.

“We’re signing up new clients at the rate of two or three a day,” says Hartman. “We hadn’t expected such rapid uptake and are thrilled by this early proof that we’re meeting a real need in the market.”

Connecto provides a single space within which consumers can collect and curate their business relationships – and where businesses can maintain contact, craft special offers and generate customer loyalty.

“The app is for any business that wants repeat customers, whether they’re a local restaurant, an online retailer or a travel company,” says Hartman. “It means they can make meaningful, permission-based connections with their customers on their mobile phones, without needing to develop their own apps.”

Businesses pay from R99 a month to subscribe to the service, while the app is free for customers to download in the Android, Apple and Blackberry app stores.

Hartman says South Africa is an ideal place to launch apps like Connecto because it’s extremely diverse, yet small enough to show rapid results. “As far as we know this is a world first,” he says. “Launching from Cape Town allows us to prove the value of the concept quickly.”