OLX launches ‘Smellovision’: a ground-breaking new feature

OLX is launching an exciting new classifieds app feature – the ability to smell items for sale, on demand. Based on a ‘scratch and sniff’ principle and built by its tech team in Argentina, the functionality promises to usher in a new level of user experience across the group’s platforms.

Pato Rocca, VP of Engineering for Asia, Latam, ME and Africa, said, “we’re delighted to bring this feature to the market and to our users. After a lot of technical challenges, the team has done some incredible work to make what was previously a dream into a reality.”

The feature works by using both a mobile phone’s microphone and camera together. Sellers will be directed to provide app access to their microphone, and select ‘smell’ option when listing their item. They will then be asked to take a photograph with their phone at a specific distance from the item (depending on the item size and shape) in order to activate the ‘smell’ functionality. Once listed, buyers will see a ‘smell me’ button next to the item’s listed photos. When pressed, the buyer sniffs their phone in order to smell the item.

All product categories will have the option to add ‘smell’ when listing, though the feature will work best for items with the strongest and most identifiable smells, such as new cars and real estate properties with large kitchens. Job listers are advised to take a photo of their office, in order to give job candidates a sense of the smell of their potential workplace.

The new feature will be available exclusively for app users in countries using the new OLX platform, namely South Africa, India, and Pakistan, and starting from this week. There are plans to roll out the feature to other brands and apps within OLX Group in the near future.

Olaf Zschiedrich, CTO of OLX Group, said, “our new feature is an exciting and revolutionary development in the world of classifieds. Our users are always at the front and centre of our thinking, and we look forward to providing both buyers and sellers with a unique new experience.”

About OLX Group

OLX Group is a global product and tech company which operates a network of market-leading trading platforms in five continents. With more than 350 million monthly users worldwide, OLX Group makes it fast and easy to buy and sell almost anything online, such as household goods, phones, cars and houses. Through consumer brands including Avito, dubizzle, letgo, OLX, and many dozen others, we estimate that 17 million things are exchanged on our apps and platforms every single month. The company is powered by a team of 5,000 people, operating from 35+ offices across five continents. OLX Group is part of Naspers, a global internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Around a fifth of the world’s population improve their daily lives using the products and services of companies that Naspers operates and invests in.

For more information, please visit www.olxgroup.com and www.naspers.com.