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PRICES of goods and services can drop by as much as 40 percent if more people sign up to online shopping and companies adopt the new concept. Hammer and Tongues Africa Holdings chief executive officer Mr Brian Makwabarara told journalists yesterday that it is time Zimbabwe moved in the direction with regards online shopping which not only offers convenience but also has potential to significantly reduce prices.
“One of our major principles is that at the end of the day we do not only want to deliver convenience to our customers but we want to try to deliver to them at the best possible prices. Preferably, and together with our partners, we will be able to do this in the coming months, we want to deliver a price that is better than retail,” said Mr Makwabarara.
“In the developed world online prices are up to 40 percent cheaper than retail prices. It’s about time Zimbabwe started to move towards that direction,” he said. Mr Makwabarara said Zimbabweans will from today be able to purchase groceries, vehicles, school uniforms, properties, cement and other goods following the launch of the Hammer and Tongues Shopping mall.
The Hammer and Tongues Shopping Mall allows other traders to integrate their services to the platform to give convenience to shoppers.
Cement manufacturer, Lafarge the country’s largest school uniforms distributor, Enbee, the country’s largest new vehicles dealer Croco Motors have already signed up to the platform.
Agricultural sector supply organisations, Drip-Tech, Farmec are also on the platform.
Drip-Tech supplies a wide range of equipment to the agricultural sector while Farmec is one of the longest established tractor and farm machinery distributors in Zimbabwe.
Hammer and Tongues receive a commission from the companies upon a sale, according to the agreements. “We are excited to be launching a comprehensive, accessible, convenient and trustworthy online shopping platform offering cost effective solutions for Zimbabweans and the world at large,” said Mr Makwabarara.
The auctioneers have integrated with Econet’s EcoCash platform, VISA, MasterCard, PayPal and ZimSwitch for payments, which Mr Makwabarara said presents lower transaction costs compared with using a third party.
Mr Makwabarara said the system has been tested for security.
“This platform is going to provide convenience for our fellow Zimbabweans who are living in the Diaspora. So we have a full gateway payment that has been integrated in our system that has gone through all the security checks that will function efficiently,” said Mr Makwabarara.
Hammer and Tongues will provide delivery services for those that need it. In that regard, a fully fledged logistics company has been set up, equipped with latest world class software system and vehicles.
The online shopping mall operates on a “buy today receive tomorrow” concept.
The Hammer and Tongues Shopping Mall will conduct live auctions and integrate grain and cattle auctions.
Following the launch of the platform, a farmer has engaged the company to sell 100 tonnes of maize and 100 tonnes of soya beans on the online platform.
“Our live auctions are not going to be limited to the traditional goods. We just got our certificate and permission from the Minister of Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation Development (Dr Joseph Made) to be able to sell grain. Grain and cattle will only be moved once an online purchase has been concluded and this will save farmers transport costs for moving the grain or livestock,” said Mr Makwabarara.
Online Reporter