Tuskys says its festive-season promotion has sharply increased the share of customers paying through Lipa na M-Pesa across its stores nationwide.
The retailer said mobile-money use at the tills rose from an average of 17% to 22% of daily sales collection in less than a week, with daily Lipa na M-Pesa sales reaching Sh27 million and still climbing.
Group CEO Dan Githua announced the figures at Tuskys Embakasi, where he handed over two cars to the first winners in the ongoing Christmas Deals Poa campaign. He said mobile payments had traditionally accounted for about 17% of sales, while debit and credit cards contributed 15% and cash remained above 60%.
Githua said retailers were backing cash-lite payment options because they improve efficiency and reduce the cost of holding cash, including insurance and cash-in-transit expenses.
“With more than 150,000 transactions at the tills per day, the use of Lipa na M-PESA in the past week has been growing significantly as the preferred mode of payment edging out plastic cards by a good margin. Cash is still king but all indicators are that the adoption of mobile payment options is poised to be a game changer in the local retail market and could soon hit the 25% mark,” Githua said.
The first car winners were parliament staffer Godfrey Lumanyi, who shopped at Tuskys United Mall last Friday, and Nairobi businessman Charles Njogu, who shopped at Tuskys Pioneer in Nairobi on Saturday.
Other prizes handed out at the weekly event included 10 fridges, 25 electric kettles, 35 microwaves, one sofa set and 10 televisions.
Tuskys said the campaign, run with Safaricom Limited, Coca-Cola Company and 54 other suppliers, will offer more than Sh50 million in customer rewards. The retailer said 38 vehicles are among the prizes, alongside gift vouchers worth up to Sh4 million and more than 100 40-inch TVs, fridges, sofa sets, microwaves and kettles.
Customers qualify for the draw by spending Sh3,000 in a Tuskys store and paying through Safaricom Lipa na M-PESA. The promotion is set to run until January 2019.
The retailer also said it is projecting 30% festive-season sales growth, citing rising consumer confidence and stronger marketing support from leading brands.
