Who doesn’t want a discount? This app directs customers to stores offering bargains
With the December holidays fast approaching, your shopping needs are probably growing, but does your wallet match your appetite?
Retailers are busy outdoing one another with promises of discounted prices and big cuts as they try to move their remaining merchandise.
For many consumers, finding bargains or special offers determines whether their shopping or dining experience is a lot of fun or a chore. With this in mind, several e-commerce sites have eased the process, leaving consumers no longer needing to walk from shop to shop looking for deals.
Dominic Mburu, Rodgers Karani and George Kungu spotted this need and went ahead to develop Doh Yangu, a mobile app that brings together different products that manufacturers and retailers are selling at a discount, and the stores selling these products.
Mburu, the CEO, explains that they decided to develop the app to bridge the gap that existed between manufacturers and end users of their products. By using the app, a customer can buy a discounted item at a listed shop and is able to redeem the cash that is credited to their mobile money account.
“We started the company two years ago in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the aim was to give consumers tangible discounts and loyalties they make on their normal household shopping,” Mburu says.
He adds that they considered that most of the loyalty campaigns in the market typically promise customers gains when they accumulate points after shopping, but consumers felt no real gain.
“We wanted to give consumers tangible discounting and tangible loyalty for the shopping they make on their normal household shopping. We work with manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of these products as they list them in retail stores.”
He adds, “When they have intentions to pass discounts to consumers, they come through our app, which then fiscalises that discount,” Mburu explains.
For instance, if a cooking oil maker intends to pass a Sh100 discount on a three-litre pack, it will list the product on Doh Yangu’s catalogue. When customers on the app shop at the stores offering discounts, they earn Sh100, which is credited to their mobile money account, enabling them to spend the money they have saved on other needs.
“We wanted to bring the believability in promotions such that when I tell you, you are saving Sh50, it is exactly what you will get,” Mburu points out.
Six counties
The enterprise partners with manufacturers, retailers and distributors of different brands in at least six counties across the country in the discounts initiative.
Karani, the Chief Technical Officer, explains that over the two years they have been in operation, the app has onboarded over 119,000 customers across the six counties, partnered with 48 retail stores, including Cleanshelf Supermarket, and listed over 50 different products on the app.
“Money back ranges between Sh5 for a packet of milk to Sh60 for three litres of oil,” Karani says.
To access the benefits, all one has to do is register and log in.
Karani says that usage of the app has not only benefitted customers but also improved the performance of specific products, creating traffic as consumers hunt for discounts.
“Our focus is on daily staples - we work with sugar, flour, cooking oil and others always in the consumer’s basket. Whenever we have a brand of flour offering, say a Sh20 discount, consumers tend to move towards that,” says Mburu.
“Our primary beneficiary is the shopper. What drives traction is the number of shoppers who earn discounts from Doh Yangu,” he adds.
Over the two years, the business has moved from an initial nine stores to the current 48 stores. It has also up-scaled its technical investments to ensure efficient services by storing data on Google Cloud services for security.
The workforce has also increased from the initial three to 45, the majority of them women, whom the founders say have proved to be good marketers.
Business advice
Besides promoting products through discounting, the business also offers businesses advice regarding the performance of their products.
“In addition to offering an opportunity where a customer gets money back, we also offer analytics services and online advertising to manufacturers,” Karani points out.
The company is planning to roll out a USSD service that will benefit users of phones that cannot access the app as a way to ensure that more shoppers benefit.
“We also have provision for buy now, pay later for small enterprises such as kiosks and vibandas, this way, they are able to expand their opportunities,” continues Karani.
They are optimistic of the continued growth of the app, and target to hit a million shoppers by 2023, as they grow the number of stores and products on offer and grow their footprint across the country.
“We want to be the go-to discounting and loyalty platform. Our vision is to get into every single shopping store and are currently engaging retailers with national and regional footprints to onboard them,” concludes Mburu. BY DAILY NATION



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