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NewsDay

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Business finds relief in social media platforms

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SMALL and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Harare say they have now resorted to the use of online platforms such as WhatsApp for marketing their wares in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BY EVANS MATHANDA

SMALL and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Harare say they have now resorted to the use of online platforms such as WhatsApp for marketing their wares in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Small and Medium Enterprise Association of Zimbabwe (SMEAZ) chief executive officer Farai Mutambanengwe told NewsDay yesterday that the use of WhatsApp was an economic option as it was less costly and allowed users to form online groups.

“There is no additional charge for marketing your business on WhatsApp and it also allows users to form groups with very few restrictions. SMEs can reach a range of audiences on WhatsApp and that is the primary reason why SMEs use WhatsApp to sell their wares during the COVID-19 lockdown,” he said.

“WhatsApp is an excellent social platform for marketing since people always check their phones regularly, hence it is a very effective means of buying and selling goods.”

Goldtech Electronics marketing executive Rutendo Hore, who focuses on Itel products, said they had been doing WhatsApp marketing of their electronic products since March last year when the first COVID-19 lockdown was announced.

“We started with one WhatsApp group, but now we have 12 online groups to market our products,” she said.

One WhatsApp group can accommodate 257 members.

Hore said the groups had measures in place that prohibited members from posting information not related to their objectives.

SMEs in the clothing industry said they were able to attract more sales through WhatsApp groups than through physical interaction with customers.

“We have regular customers who receive our products in the comfort of their homes. We discovered that data is now expensive in Zimbabwe, but people sacrifice to purchase WhatsApp bundles since the application is user-friendly. WhatsApp can be used by elderly people as it is user-friendly,” Tracy Moyo, the founding director of 236 Baby Wear, said.

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