Maxamundo have this week June 2010' launched their latest incarnation of their online mapping application. The application allows retailers to engage in something they call Geo-Retail, listing goods and services by location bridging the gap between online shopping and the high street. The project is global in scope and allows business owners to claim existing tags or establish them for themselves.
The problem Maxamundo now faces is that of Chicken and Egg, how to reach a critical mass of business users to populate Geo-Retail listings, and how to maintain the interest of business users to keep information fresh while building a community of general customers. This is a problem faced by many online communities based systems and once a user base is established a business model needs to be developed to achieve sustainability, the Maxamundo team rather then be daunted by the challenge ahead relish the opportunity.
Maxamundo is going back to basics physically visiting businesses in the Manchester area of the UK, that while focusing on student communities targeting content to suit. Mick Lockwood co-founder of Maxamundo said " We hope as soon as local business realise just how simple it is to list goods and services instantly on Maxamundo and what exposure this can achieve when targeting the cities huge student population they will get on board and make this happen.
Maxamundo is already developing an Iphone version of its mapping application and it is due to be released September 2010. The online version will include the functionality for users to search for products and services, retail outlets and traders, and navigate their way around.