Econet Wireless has launched EcoShopper, a service that will enable EcoCash customers to buy groceries from their mobile phones.
BY OUR STAFF reporter
The service is a big step towards m-Commerce in the local market, where customers would be able to purchase and receive goods and services from their wallets. The service was being launched with National Foods, and would in future be rolled out further to include other suppliers, Econet said.
EcoShopper will allow EcoCash subscribers to choose from a wide selection of grocery hampers from the EcoCash menu to be sent directly to the recipient, the company said at the launch. The service was available via the normal USSD menu, a mobile website and an Android application downloadable for free from the GooglePlay store.
“As EcoCash, we are driving towards providing more solutions that will integrate mobile money into the day-to-day lives of our customers. We want to make things like shopping easier,” Jimmy Shindi, CEO of Econet Services said.
The groceries, which were primarily basic goods for now, will be available in a choice of six baskets ranging from $20 to $300. Each basket comprises various brands of basic foodstuffs manufactured by NatFoods. The beneficiary will then be able to select a collection point from any of the over 40 NatFoods outlets countrywide.
NatFoods marketing director Antony McKinnon said with EcoShopper, customers would find it easier to access goods and to send them to their loved ones without having to leave their homes.
“What such services bring is convenience, and we are happy to be partners in bringing this to our customers,” McKinnon said. According to Natalie Jabangwe-Morries, head of EcoCash Business, there was a huge demand on the local market for m-Commerce. “EcoShopper has been launched to meet that demand, and to bring convenience to the shopping public by making it easier for them to access and pay for groceries.”
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It is estimated that m-Commerce value will reach $85 billion in Africa by next year. Innovation-led firms were tapping into day-to-day transactions. An example of this was Starbucks collaboration with Twitter, launching the “Tweet a coffee” service.
Far ahead of the innovation curve in Africa, EcoCash is the first to provide an in-wallet grocery service complemented by a mobile web and Android application centric platform.
