Tuskys, one of East Africa’s biggest supermarkets, has ventured into the electronic commerce space with some unique services that could give it an edge in the emerging industry.
Managed by Tusker Mattresses, which also operates Mavazi Lifestyle clothing stores in Kenya and Uganda, the Tuskys online store will be accessed via the web portal.
It is currently operational in only Kenya.
Installment purchases
One of the unique offers the retailer has introduced is automated layby buying, where customers will pay by installments and pick the goods after paying all the total.
Dubbed the Tuskys Lipia Pole Pole Layby solution, the innovative payment is powered by Flexpay, a Kenyan fintech start-up focusing on retail solutions.
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“By launching the E-commerce platform, Tuskys is looking forward to scaling the layby business (Lipia Pole Pole) for online shoppers. Lipia Pole Pole allows Tuskys shoppers to reserve high-value products and then pay conveniently in small installments for up to 2 months using mobile money options,” Tusker Mattresses Group CEO Dan Githua says.
The Tuskys online store will be hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and it will feature a total of 11 sections ranging from furniture, electronics, crockery, apparel among others.
The supermarket has also partnered with Direct Pay Online (DPO) to facilitate electronic payments.
According to an official statement, the supermarket already has 1,200 suppliers to physical stores, and in order to enrich the Tuskys online store, they will be recruiting more than 1000 online suppliers.
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