Avo – Breaking down barriers between small business and consumers in one super app
The Small Medium Enterprise and entrepreneur took the spotlight in the business world from 2010 in South Africa, against the mind-set that the only way for individuals to truly “make it” was to build a business of their own.
According to the STATS SA, in 2015 the SME sector saw a 40% increase in annual turnover.
This turnover dropped by 26% in 2018 and by a further 16% in 2019.
Vishal Maharaj, Executive: Digital Fast Lane at Nedbank said, “When the team embarked on the journey to develop a super app for the South African consumer, we noted the niche opportunity we had to not only uplift, but empower small businesses at the same time.”
“Through creating a platform business, Avo has broken down the barriers of entry for small businesses. In turn Avo facilitates value adding interactions between consumers and SMEs, ranging from tradesmen to boutique service providers.”
What are the common barriers facing small businesses? How does Avo by Nedbank solve these?
Connection
If you wake up to a burst geyser, general behaviour would be to ask a for a recommendation or Google a local plumber with no guarantee of good workmanship.
With Avo, all you need to do is search/ask for a plumber and we do the rest. Avo uses AI to match you with the right service provider in your area that can offer the service within your budget.
Avo service providers are verified and reviewed – so you are able to check credentials at any time.
End to end engagement
A big plus for service providers is that the Avo platform facilitates the end to end engagement, from the initial chat to providing a quote, facilitating payment and collecting the rating and review.
This empowers the business owner while enabling business growth.
Payment security facilitated by the Avo Wallet
Every Avo Wallet holder is enabled to receive payments via their own QR code, payment link, or in app. The wallet is unique in that it protects both the customer and business with payment reservation.
This means that once a customer has accepted the quote, the payment is made in app and then reserved in escrow and only released once the consumer is happy that the job has been completed to their expectations.
This takes away the stress of chasing invoices for the business or payment upfront for the consumer. It’s a huge win for both the service provider and the customer.
The business can reconcile the payment through the wallet transaction history clearly showing the payment with unique transaction reference to the service rendered.
Credibility growth with validated ratings and reviews
Avo will request the consumer to leave a rating and review of the job completed and the business as a whole.
This builds a portfolio of work and reputational credibility for business that can be accessed at any time.
“We currently have 1,300 businesses live on Avo who have performed over 1,000 jobs for Avo customers. We look forward to growing the SME landscape further as more features and functionality are added to Avo,” concluded Maharaj.
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