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I had an opportunity to interview Alex Scholz, who is the head of ecommerce for Ringier Kenya which owns Rupu.co.ke. Rupu is Kenya’s go-to online shop for quality products and experiences. The online business started in 2010 and has more than 70,000 customers each day with unbeatably priced and exclusive offers on electronics, restaurants, travel, wellness and entertainment.
Kiprono: Thanks for taking your time Alex to participate in this interview. Could you please tell us a bit about yourself and what role do you work at Rupu?
Scholz: Sure. I am Head of E-Commerce for Ringier Kenya and therefore responsible for Rupu strategically and operationally. Before joining Ringier and Rupu I worked for an adtech company in Europe being responsible for Business Development in Eastern Europe and the US as well as Investor Relations.
Kiprono: How does your voucher system work on your website? Do you believe it is accessible to the average mwananchi and small business?
Scholz: Basically we operate as ordinary online shopping platform, with the addition that we offer our customers not only high quality products for the best price but also sell services and travel packages. Customers can purchase the goods and services easily and secure online, for example via Mpesa or Credit Card, and get the items delivered right to their doorstep, if the want. We deliver across all of Kenya. As confirmation for their purchase they get the coupon code voucher, that shows the customer and merchant at the same time, which kind of purchase was made, so its a useful order confirmation document. So, yes we believe that we are accessible for a wide range of customers within Nairobi and outside Nairobi as well as SME all over the country.
Kiprono: Kenya doesn’t yet have a mail delivery system, so how are you delivering the item that customers buy from your site. How can you assure customers that this will be safe and efficient?
Scholz: You are touching a very interesting point here. We have our own delivery team, that can handle most of the deliveries within Nairobi. As we don’t have to deliver anything when it comes to the services, thats a pretty nice side effect to focus operations on efficient deliveries. We have regular trainings with our staff to assure safe deliveries. Additonally we partner with some technology companies, that help us to identify peaks times and outsource deliveries if needed.
Kiprono: You recently made some improved changes on your website, was this because competitors were doing it better?
Scholz: I don’t believe in comparison to competitors. I believe in creating a product that fits the market and fits the customer needs. We felt, that after some time we were well prepared to change the design of the page to adapt to marketing needs and the next growth stage of the company. The new design and technology helps us to serve our customers better and make the products and services on the site more accessible for our target group. So far we have gotten very good feedback. But obviously there will be more changes to come in the next couple of months as we don’t stop to learn and improve ourselves.
Kiprono: How would you highlight your company’s competitive advantages? What makes Rupu stand out of the crowd?
Scholz: On our site, we always know, what exactly we are selling and wether it is on stock or not. on the one hand we are the only online shop in kenya that sells services and products at the same time. That already makes us quiet special and results in us being the one stop for presents for any kind of occasions (birthday, holidays, anniversaries) but also travel escapes. When it comes to the product side, we make sure, we curate the products and quality that we sell. We offer free delivery, easy and secure online payments and a dedicated customer relations team and quality assurance team. That gives us a big advantage over competitors as well as we can assure stock and high quality items. At the same time we can build close relations with our merchants as we don’t have 12,000 products
Kiprono: Why should customers come to you instead of trusting their own well honed bargaining skills?
Scholz: You know, online shopping is all about convenience. Why should I go out and stand in traffic and go to crowded malls when I can check everything on Rupu. Why should I go out and try to find massage parlour if I can check Rupu and get a nice massage at a for me convenient time? Plus, some things you can’t negotiate: have you ever tried to negotiate the price for a dinner at Sankara? We do that for you and we are able to get good prices because of our good relations with the merchants, restaurants, hotels etc. So you better check Rupu from your couch, get the things that you like and enjoy hassle free delivery to your home or a nice evening at one of the best restaurants in Nairobi. And if you have questions you can ask our customer happiness managers to help you out.
Kiprono: Ok, final question from me: What are the future plans for Rupu?
Scholz: With Rupu, we want to continue building a customer focused, easy accessible and usable online shopping platform, that covers events, services, travel and high quality items. At the same time we want to extend our offers on the site by adding different categories and new merchants in Nairobi and all of Kenya.
