KENYA – Kenyan retail chain, Tuskys Supermarlet has partnered with Sendy an on-demand logistic platform to offer door to door delivers to customers to curtail the spread of the Covid-19 virus, with Kenya already reporting three confirmed cases.
This is also in line with the government’s directive for people to work from home, avoid crowded places as well as encouraging cashless transactions.
The campaign, “Stay in, Shop safe”, will see Tuskys customers make purchases of groceries from the comfort of their homes by sending their shopping list to the respective retailer’s branch telephone, sms, whatsapp contact or email through which further details on billing and delivery will be provided.
“Tuskys will do home deliveries, to support efforts to check the spread of Corona. Ridiculously simple process. Available on Short Text Messages (SMS), email, WhatsApp, telephone,” says Dan Githua, Chief executive Officer Tuskys Supermarket.
The retailer has also previously noted that they had witnessed a surge of shoppers at its stores but confirmed it would continue stocking general supermarket merchandise.
“As a responsible corporate citizen, we wish to assure the public that the panic is unnecessary. We have engaged with our suppliers and received firm commitments that we shall continue receiving necessary supplies at the standard prices,” noted the retailer.
In addition, the Competition Authority of Kenya has warned businesses against hiking prices. Parties found culpable of either of the acts will attract a penalty of up to ten per cent of their respective turnover.
In light of this, the Authority has ordered Cleanshelf Supermarket to contact and refund all the consumers who purchased the 960 pieces of the Tropical brand hand sanitizers above the usual selling price and submit evidence to support the same by March 26.
The government also urged citizens to prioritise cashless transactions. Local telcos, Safaricom and Airtel have waived fees for transactions south of US$10, and increased the capacity of their mobile wallets.
Sendy is a logistics startup that offers services for e-commerce, enterprise, and freight delivery. It currently has offices in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The retail chain now joins a number of Sendy’s clients including Unilever, Jumia, Copia, DHL, Maersk and Safaricom.
