adminCharity Ruzvidzo Business Reporter
ECOCASH, Zimbabwe’s leading mobile money operator has partnered National Foods to launch EcoShopper, a service that allows users to buy groceries directly from their EcoCash wallets.
The innovative development is available through EcoCash USSD menu, an EcoShopper mobile website and a free Android application.
EcoShopper will enable over four million EcoCash subscribers to choose from a wide selection of grocery hampers from the EcoCash menu to be sent directly to the recipient, just as one would do when sending money.
The groceries are sold in baskets ranging from between $20 and $60.
“Once a customer sends groceries from their phone, the grocery hampers can be collected at any of the over 40 National Foods’ depots across the country,” explained Natalie Jabangwe-Morris, head of EcoCash business division of Econet Wireless.
“Synonymous with global m-commerce and distribution trends, EcoCash has introduced a new wave of innovation to retailing that will benefit both manufacturers and retailers who wish to utilise the EcoShopper platform.”
Jabangwe-Morris said EcoCash was driving towards a holistic approach to integrate mobile money more deeply into everyday life.
“If a customer wants to send money for groceries or for paying bills or for anything else, we must enable the consumer to do that by providing a multi-purpose wallet,” he said.
Antony McKinnon, marketing director at National Foods, said the service was a massive boost for customers and retailers alike.
“It brings a whole new world of convenience to our customers. With EcoShopper access to products is much easier,” he said.
EcoCash is the first to provide an in-wallet grocery service complemented by a mobile web and Android application centric platform.
In a move that takes innovation a notch beyond the send-money service, EcoShopper illustrates the true meaning of an all inclusive and interoperable value chain that gives consumers choice and convenience.
Online Reporter