Zapper Brings “Starter Packs” to South African Small Businesses

Starter packs aren’t anything new; these comparatively simple, all-in-one packages that help get new users off to a flying start in a certain field are used in several markets. In what may be one of the best new uses for this concept yet, though, Zapper is using starter packs to bring mobile payments systems to the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) field in South Africa.

Geared toward those businesses that aren’t taking mobile payments at all as yet, but sure would like to, Zapper’s starter pack includes a simple information guide and a display stand with a quick response (QR) code on it. The QR code is used for making transactions, with users needing only to scan the code, enter the amount required and the store’s unique reference code to complete the transaction.

Since the starter packs require no monthly fees or set-up costs, they’re extremely accessible, and merchants in turn are given access to a personalized reference portal that allows them access to analytics tools providing insight into their customer bases. Starter packs are readily acquired, available at Zapper merchants or at Zapper events, and even as inserts in some magazines.

With Zapper itself currently counting over one million downloads to its credit, as well as a recent entrance into the restaurant sector, Zapper is making itself a fairly popular prospect in the South African mobile payments market. The idea of essentially handing itself out at no charge to the end user, complete with “everything you need to know about” guide, is a masterstroke. It’s a wonder no one else has thought to do this with other mobile payment systems.

Mobile payments are a big deal. Customers want to use them, and businesses with any kind of basic economic sense want to provide what customers want. Yet for many, it’s easy to see why mobile payments aren’t in place. The sheer number of options coupled with the somewhat technical nature of the field leaves potential users unsettled.

Zapper has, in one brilliant move, made its system more accessible to the merchant end user through education. That improves the likelihood that Zapper will be the merchant’s platform of choice, or at least first among equals.