Parenting? There’s an app for that

SINGAPORE – There is a mobile app for everything and parenting is no exception. Whether it is getting advice from fellow parents or looking for activities to keep children busy, there is a way to get all of the information – and tools to help parents get organised – through mobile apps.

The latest to enter the market here is Mummyfique World, a mobile app launched in November by the people behind the website by the same name.

Gidania Wong, Chief Marketing Mummy at Mummyfique, explained: “After nearly two years of running Mummyfique.com, we amassed a collection of contacts from different businesses that we’ve either worked with for the site or used for our personal purposes. As mums, word of mouth is extremely important and we tend to recommend trusted sources and businesses to our own network of friends.

“Since we kept receiving queries for contacts such as party planners, photographers, bakers, doctors and even enrichment classes, we decided to put together an extensive directory for parents to look through a curated list of vendors for all their parenting needs,” she added.

DIRECTORY FOR PARENTS

The Mummyfique World app serves as a parenting resource, with lists of vendors in 10 different categories – identified following a survey of 500 working Singaporean mothers who felt these are important in their parenting journey – that parents can easily browse.

The lists, which include anything from pregnancy services and confinement needs to party planning, food and retail listings, have been curated based on reviews and shared by other mothers.

“The app also has a unique ‘show nearby’ function, allowing mothers to locate vendors in their immediate vicinity,” Wong shared. It also lists vendors regionally, with Malaysia being the first market it has expanded to.

Mummyfique’s app is just one app in the market that specifically targets parents.

Another example, Kiddet, is a booking app that functions much like Chope for restaurant reservations, except this is for children’s enrichment classes, events and activities.

Launched in early 2016, Kiddet allows parents in Asia to discover and book enrichment classes, activities and events through their mobile phones.

Then, there is ParentTown, an app for parents to seek advice and recommendations from fellow parents.

It is a social marketing app with a question-and-answer platform for parents to connect with experts, as well as share valuable parenting information with others.

Questions and posts could range from when a baby can drink water to paediatrician recommendations, pre-school reviews to marital or mum-in-law issues – and everything in between.

It also customises content based on user profiles and opt-ins, which means users only see content posted in their country and topics they follow. Because the majority of ParentTown’s content is user-generated, every user’s experience is varied.

LUCRATIVE MARKET

ParentTown is developed by theAsianparent.com, the largest parenting portal in the region, with over 11 million users across countries like Singapore, Indonesia, India, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

“New parents used to rely on books and websites; but with so much conflicting information and noise, it’s become tough to find great content that’s both culturally and stage-relevant,” said Roshni Mahtani, CEO and Founder of Tickled Media.

“Communities and experts do a far better job at providing that information,” she added.

So is it a lucrative market? The people behind these apps certainly think so.

“Most content is digested on the go and via mobile these days; we feel as busy mothers that an app will go a long way to helping us in a larger part of our daily lives,” said Wong. “We are hoping to create a more efficient platform to connect parents to the vendors they need, there is definitely some unfulfilled potential in this market.”

Tickled Media’s Mahtani added: “As with any platform du jour, there are a lot of ways to monetise and the limit is the product/sales team’s creativity. So in a word, yes [it is a lucrative market], because what you really want to see in a platform is demand, customisation and longevity.

“Apps are here to stay – they’ve woven themselves into our daily existence. And parenting? There’s nothing as age-old and future-proof as that.

“Also, mums are really, really, busy. Speaking as one, apps that help us in any way in this frazzling yet fantastic journey really do come in handy!” she added.