Naivas supermarket, one of the largest supermarket chains in Kenya, in partnership with Africa’s leading payment solutions provider, Interswitch Limited has launched its Digital Retail Strategy by rolling out its own payment network, Naivas Pay. The supermarket first introduced the service to its customers in its outlets in Westlands and Kiambu Rd.
The payment network will enable customers to pay via several channels such as mobile, Internet or cards, which are connected to their bank accounts. This will be advantageous to the merchants who will not have to rely on the traditional point of sale devices anymore. In addition, it will do away with the issues and shortcomings that are accompanied with the handling of cash on a daily basis.
“Naivas Pay is part of our larger Retail Strategy. We believe going digital is neither a project nor a phase of our strategy but rather a mindset in what we do every day for our customers. We are proud to pioneer this service that will allow us as merchants to gain more control in how we receive payments,” said Naivas Supermarket chain COO Willy Kimani.
With Kenya’s retail sector growing, there has been an increasing appetite for faster and better payment methods. Naivas Pay gives exactly this as it encourages digitization and allows customers to make payments efficiently and effortlessly.
“We’re passionate about customer experiences and digitization, said Interswitch East Africa CEO Paul Ndichu adding, “Creating solutions like the Naivas Pay we, as Africa’s premier fintech solutions provider, are bringing to our partners’ new solutions. The market in Kenya is at about 30% modern trade, this solution allows Naivas to tap into and grow this sector while minimizing on its costs and always staying connected to their end consumer.”
The introduction of Naivas pay comes as a first step for the chain supermarket as it looks to introduce its e-commerce portal this November. This will allow all its data to be channeled through one system, allowing the company to understand its customers through collecting their shopping data. The system will be able to collect data such as frequency of shopping, shopping locations, type of products and payment methods, which help improve customer experience.
