App comes to the rescue of spaza shop owners
Mobile application helps traders unite for discounts and for stock monitoring
A group of Free State youngsters have created a mobile app that will help spaza shop owners operate more efficiently.
They are the quartet of Tumi Letsaba, Kgomotso Sebitlo, Ditjhaba Selemela and Bandile Ntombela, who are the founders of a tech company called Next Curve Creations.
Their app, called Progressive Creations, is intended to help store owners unite and benefit from discounts that come with bulk buying. It will also help individual owners keep better inventory records.
At present, the app is being tested among a closed user group of spaza shop owners in Frankfort.
“We realised that retailers struggle with gaining access to fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers and to organise themselves to access manufacturers.
“After many casual chats with local owners in Namahadi [township in Frankfort], we decided to create a platform that would improve their business,” said Letsaba. The app will help owners contain expenses and increase access to the marketplace.
A study by the Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation and the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies showed that spaza shops are critical contributors to local food security, self-employment and community cohesion.
However, after surveying 1,100 township grocery retailers across all nine provinces, the study found that the sector has undergone extensive change and owners are battling to adapt.
Being a group of young men experienced in tech, finance and business, Letsaba said they view the app as the best way forward.
“The app offers township businesses an opportunity to adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Technology has a huge impact on our daily lives and to keep up with current trends, we believe that our people need the opportunity to adapt.”
The app has barcode-scanning capabilities which will assist with proper stocktaking. “When someone buys a certain item, you can scan the barcode and it will update the stock. You’ll be able to view sales and stock levels.”
The team – which has now been granted an opportunity to be part of the Black Umbrellas, a body that seeks to develop, mobilise and connect entrepreneurs – aims to launch the app across the country once it has been refined.
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The app offers kasi businesses an opportunity to adapt to 4IR