Phindor, a Kenyan company, has released a next-generation shop assistant system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to support local companies with record administration, data collecting, and storage.
Phindor originated as a website that let customers locate and compare prices for school supplies, but in 2018 it shifted its focus to data management and analysis.
When the Phindor app was released in January, that goal became a reality. It’s a business assistant app that lets companies seamlessly record sales data both online and offline, get customer feedback through automated surveys, create smart supply chain networks for both retailers and suppliers, analyze and recommend markets and customer segments, and forecast business performance. It also allows you to track markets and products.
“We are enabling them to apply the power of AI to make sense of this data by helping them segment customers in their markets, generate smart supply chain networks, analyse their markets and predict future performance of their businesses, as well as track sale items over time to enable them to make proper purchase decisions, just the same way we track currencies and stocks,” Munene said.
The business, which is now self-funded, has enrolled around 500 customers since January. When it comes to corporate technology, Munene believes Phindor’s user niche is mostly neglected.
“It is usually a “wow” moment when we walk into someone’s shop and explain to them what the app can do. Surprisingly for us, we found out that most of the users had ideas of such a product but have never had a solution that fits all these needs in such a way they would adopt it. We have had challenges explaining the app to the least tech-savvy, but overall, the adoption has been smooth,” he said.
The firm, which is now based in Kenya, is looking for capital to grow its user base and expand to Nigeria, Rwanda, and Ghana, as well as the rest of Africa.
“We charge our users a small percentage of their monthly sales on top of a flat rate of US $5 a month that can be broken into weekly or daily payments,” said Munene.
