Mazao Bora (mazaobora.com) is a multivendor e-commerce platform that sells agri-inputs and agri-products to customers and to other businesses.

What Was the Problem?

Mazao Bora sought a provider to develop a USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) system for them and integrate it with their already existing web-based e-commerce platform (mazaobora.com). The USSD platform would make it easier for customers without smartphones to purchase products from mazao bora. The primary target for Mazao Bora is farmers in rural Kenya, particularly western Kenya. Many of these farmers lack smartphones or have poor network coverage in the areas they live. With this in mind, Mazao Bora wanted a USSD platform to make their products available to these farmers. The USSD platform allows farmers with any kind of phone, internet-enabled or not, to access and purchase Mazao Bora products.

Integration of the USSD platform with the web-based platform allows the management of the products catalog and sales to be done in one place. The Mazao Bora’s USSD service is available at *483*300#.

How Did We Resolve It?

We started by creating a prototype with one shop whereby buyers could go through the entire lifecycle of online shopping from viewing products to adding to cart, checking out, and paying via Mpesa. The final step in the purchase process is receiving a confirmation SMS from Mazao Bora confirming that the customer’s order is being processed. After successfully linking the first shop, we integrated two more shops for a total of three, each with it separate Mpesa Paybill. We also created a web-based backend platform via which the web manager can add more products to the USSD and do other web-management tasks, such as changing product prices and removing products among others.  

What Were the Outcomes?

The USSD platform has allowed Mazao Bora to increase its sales, particularly in the rural areas. The platform has also allowed Mazao Bora to build a phone number list that they can use in their marketing and to analyze demographics of their customers, such as the region they come from and age among others.  

What’s Next?

So far, Agetake Kreatives has onboarded three stores on the Mazao Bora USSD platform. The client has plans to onboard over 20 stores, each with its own unique payment method and we are in the process of developing this platform in the most efficient way that guarantees system reliability and security of personal data. There’s also a possibility of developing an android app that would enhance the diversity of services available to Mazao Bora customers via their phones.

Eldoret City Marathon was founded in 2018 as a platform for launching the careers of young and unknown long-distance running talents while simultaneously promoting the conservation of the environment. The Eldoret City Marathon was developed to afford the talents in the shadows an opportunity to compete at home where they would not need the services of a manager or agent to register for a world-class marathon. The Eldoret City Marathon can then serve as the platform that gives them national prominence and introduces them to agents, managers, and the rest of the world. Beyond nurturing young and unknown talents, the founders also envisioned the marathon as a platform for advocating for mass tree planting as a panacea for climate change.

What Was the Problem?

Eldoret City Marathon sought to expand the reaches of participation beyond the locality, attracting the interest of participants from all over Kenya and across the globe. However, without a highly specialized digital marketing team, the marathon could not achieve the anticipated levels of growth that would help it achieve its objectives. Additionally, outside Eldoret and its environs, the marathon had little traction with potential participants and sponsors, who would enhance talent nurturing and the tree planting exercise at the core of the marathon’s objectives. The marathon did not also have a digital presence, to expose it more efficiently to the masses. Therefore, despite the good intentions from the marathon, there was little movement in achieving the objectives set by the organizers.

How Did We Resolve It?

The most critical step in marketing the Eldoret City Marathon involved creating an online presence, where the brand would get exposed to a wider audience. Consequently, we developed a website for the marathon, where our target audiences could review our objectives, as well as learn how to participate in the marathon and also partner with us in our climatic action cause. Additionally, we created social media pages for the marathon on all the prominent social media sites, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, where we could more effectively communicate with our audiences and give quick feedback regarding our preparations for the marathon, the events, and the post-event notices regarding the marathon. We also partnered with major media companies in the country to give live coverage on the marathon, further enhancing the exposure and consequent participation in the marathon.

We also sought to enhance the marathon website’s conversion rate, seeking to enhance the number of online visitors to the website. This process involved identifying suitable keywords that would enhance access to visitors who would not have accessed the website before. The website was also designed in a manner that enhances user experience, ensuring that the visitors have access to relevant information on the home page without getting redirected often, which reduces customer retention.

What Were the Outcomes?

Since our partnership, Eldoret City Marathon has seen a rise in online presence, based on the engagements recorded with audiences and participants. Due to the greater exposure, the marathon has steadily grown the number of participants registered every year, and this has consequently enhanced our tree-planting efforts towards easing the climate challenge. With greater online participation, the marathon has gained traction as a well-known event in Kenya, with many audiences readily tuning in to observe the event through our online platforms.

What’s Next?

The Eldoret City Marathon seeks to enhance its reach with Kenyan audiences, as well as internationally. With increased exposure, the marathon, the highest paying marathon in Africa, can increase its efforts to promote unnurtured talent in the region, while also attracting more sponsorships. With increased sponsor support, the marathon can increase its prize structure, incentivizing more participation. The Eldoret City Marathon also seeks to expose more talents to the world, potentially helping these talents to participate in international events where they can represent the country and garner more individual accolades.

Additionally, the Eldoret City Marathon seeks to enhance tree planting in the region in response to global climate changes. Added participation in the marathon guarantees greater involvement in the tree-planting exercise.

AgriDuka is a digital platform that connects farmers to agri-inputs, and services. Offering farmers opportunity to buy from different retailers/agrovets to access inputs and services for both crop and animal farmers, beginning with Kenya in East Africa. With a plan to expand to the rest of the region. AgriDuka is a multi-vendor ecommerce platform. Basically, multiple vendors can each create their own semi-autonomous online store within AgriDuka and sell their products directly to customers. This means that buyers understand that they are buying products from the vendor directly and not from AgriDuka. What AgriDuka provides is the ecommerce platform, general marketing of the products on the site, and oversight role to ensure both the vendors and buyers are protected. AgriDuka also provides a comprehensive product catalogue of most approved agri-input products in Kenya from which vendors can select a product, append a price to it, and sell.

What Was the Problem?

Agriduka sought to create a one-of-a-kind multivendor ecommerce platform tailored for agricultural products. With this platform, Agriduka could help farmers in Kenya get farm inputs and additionally, sell their produce, more effectively. With the ecommerce platform, Agriduka sought to help farmers use technology to their benefit, by eliminating the hassle associated with physical shopping which is time consuming. While there are plenty of ecommerce platforms already established within Kenya and the region, dealing with mostly household items, there is none suitably tailored for agricultural products. Therefore, Agriduka seeks to provide such a platform to support Kenyan farmers. With the ecommerce platform, Agriduka can assist farmers get access to vast catalogues of products from an assortment of sellers online, who give competitive pricing and also make it easier to receive the products through home deliveries.

Additionally, Agriduka sought to create a well-versed and established online presence, where its audiences could efficiently reach the management team and get swift assistance. With a high global adoption of social media, Agriduka needed a well-managed social media presence where the organization could have a first-hand interaction with its audience.

How Did We Resolve It?

We set up a multivendor ecommerce platform to satisfy Agriduka’s needs. In this platform, agri-input and agri-produce vendors can create a semi-autonomous online store within Agriduka, and here they can reach wide audiences and sell their products to customers across the country. The platform gives vendors the freedom to transact with customers without interference, although Agriduka oversees all processes, ensuring that both vendors and buyers within the platform are well protected against exploitation. Additionally, the platform has a pre-established product catalogue of all approved agri-input products from all manufacturers within Kenya, which makes it easier for vendors to select those which they have stocked, after which they can append their retail prices.  The ecommerce platform also has a feature requiring vendors to indicate their geographical location, making it easier for buyers to connect with vendors closest to them.

We also created social media accounts on popular platforms Facebook and Instagram, where Agriduka gives snippets of information to its audience regarding operations, further increasing the number of visitors expected on Agriduka’s website. More visitors guarantee a higher conversion rate, helping popularize Agriduka’s platform. We also added a blog section on Agriduka’s website, where visitors can gain more agricultural knowledge regarding essential agricultural practices, as well as revolutionary practices for the future.

What Were the Outcomes?

Since our partnership, Agriduka has grown steadily, with multiple vendors registering on the platform daily and with significant increases in successful transactions. Additionally, Agriduka has been inundated with positive customer feedback regarding the convenience offered by the platform, boosting morale for exponential growth. Agriduka has also had an increased audience, with a greater conversion rate since streamlining the website. With the addition of the blog section to the website, Agriduka has reported more visitors to the website within the past quarter, with more visitors showing interest in acquiring the agricultural knowledge presented on the blog section. Additionally, the blogs have shown promise of helping convert the audience into potential customers for the ecommerce platform.

What’s Next?

Agriduka seeks to record exponential growth in the future, establishing itself as the default ecommerce platform for all agricultural needs. Additionally, Agriduka seeks to continue imparting agricultural knowledge on its audience, helping farmers in Kenya and the greater East Africa region. Further, with increasing interaction with farmers within the region, Agriduka seeks to expand its services within the greater East Africa region and eventually establish itself as the leader in Africa. Agriduka also looks forward to enhancing its reach and relevance within social circles, helping influence farmers into more sustainable farming techniques for better food security in future. Agriduka also hopes to retain high quality customer service, further encouraging more vendors and customers to transact on the platform.