“In a minute” is an expression often used by teenagers to placate nagging parents, or by workers struggling to meet their boss’s tight timeline.
But Sixty is an app that is taking the expression very seriously indeed – the new startup wants to help small businesses create a mobile shopfront in just 60 seconds.
Vice president of marketing James Nguyen says his startup offers new companies an easier way to get online, and removes the need for them to hire a website or app designer.
All a business needs to do is register, upload photos, write some accompanying text and pick one of the app’s prefabricated themes, and then they’ll be ready to sell their wares online.
The app also takes care of money, directing revenue to a PayPal or credit card account.
Users of Sixty can direct messages to their customers, and the app can also access mobile phone address books, sending friends and family an SMS inviting them check out the app.
Nguyen says his product is the only one-stop-shop for all these different services.
“No one’s done what we’ve done all-in-one,” he says.
The team behind Sixty are determined to improve the experience of buying and selling via mobile phone.
Nguyen says even though a lot of companies’ websites are mobile responsive, developing a phone version of a legacy platform is a “Band-Aid fix”.
“Whether they like it or not, that’s where the traffic is, that’s where a lot of e-commerce sales happen,” Nguyen says.
“We’re building it from the ground up on mobile.”
The app is the brainchild of founder Matt Snowden who Nguyen says was inspired to create Sixty amid growing frustration at the inconsistency of mobile websites.
“He wanted to find a plumber or a mechanic, he would jump on his phone, but he was finding was it really difficult to locate the information he needed,” he says.
By setting up stores that function similarly to one another, Nguyen says the best ideas will win over the market, not the company with the most cash to spend on their website and app.
He’s confident that market is hungry for Sixty, explaining the team tested their prototype extensively to ensure it would be welcomed by users.
“That’s 100% essential and, for us, a philosophy to always carry forward,” he says.
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