Zoho Launches a Subsidized Package for MSME

Global technology solutions company, Zoho, has launched the Zoho Africa Digital Enabler (ZADE) package in Kenya, two days after launching the same in Nigeria. The company will roll out the package in these two countries with strong plans to expand to the rest of Africa.

ZADE is a package that is aimed at helping small businesses take steps towards digital transformation at an affordable price. For instance, a Micro organization with a maximum of 4 employees can get this package for Ksh 585 ($5) which is half the amount they would have paid for the same service earlier.

The company, which grew 47% this year in Kenya, also announced that it will be hiring more employees locally for customer-facing roles. The announcements were made on the sidelines of the company’s first user conference in the country—Zoholics Kenya—that was held at Trademark Hotel in Nairobi.

“As part of ‘transnational localism’ strategy where our growth is underpinned with that of the region, we bring our global expertise to support the creation of self-sufficient economic clusters,” said Veerakumar Natarajan, Country Head for Kenya, Zoho Corp. “In 2020, we started out in the country by offering our products in Kenyan Shilling at a price lower than our global rates to make it easier for Kenyan customers to avail the products without worrying about fluctuating exchange rates. We have been hiring locally to serve our customers, even as we continue to grow our partner network. Now, as a continuation to our commitment to the country, we are launching the Zoho Africa Digital Enabler package, which is designed to provide small businesses a segue to digital transformation.”

Zoho Africa Digital Enabler (ZADE) package

The Zoho Africa Digital Enabler package is aimed to help small businesses with up to five employees jumpstart their digital journey. This package will provide new users of Zoho a collection of 10 leading apps at a 50% discount starting from July 1, 2022 for a period of three months:

Zoho Workplace: Zoho Workplace is a unified platform that brings together collaboration, productivity, and communications tools and integrates them into other business processes. Centered around its secure business email (Zoho Mail), team chat (Zoho Cliq), and online office suite (Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheet, Zoho Show, and Zoho WorkDrive), Zoho Workplace features eight tightly integrated apps that hybrid teams can use to get work done and collaborate with each other easily. The platform also includes video conferencing (Zoho Meeting), an enterprise townhall (Zoho Connect), AI-based search (Zia Search) and other security and administrative tools, enabling businesses to communicate and collaborate effectively in a hybrid environment. Zoho Workplace is the most popular offering of Zoho in Kenya.

Bigin: Bigin, a pipeline-centric CRM, was designed specifically to help MSMEs keep track of their customers and improve customer relationships without having to worry about high costs or complicated features. It can be set up in 30 minutes, with options to create multiple pipelines with customisable stages based on a company’s operation style. Users can make or receive calls from within the system and have contextual information ready at hand. Repetitive tasks can be automated, and prospects can be engaged through email, web forms, online meetings and Twitter. It also provides contextual dashboards to help businesses have an overview of their sales. Bigin integrates with popular third-party business apps, such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoom, Mailchimp, etc.

Zoho Invoice: With Zoho Invoice, businesses can create and send customised invoices, manage multiple projects, track time, and bill customers accurately. They can also improve their cash flow by automatically sending payment reminders to customers, and get paid online faster through debit/credit cards and PayPal. Moreover, businesses can record and track expenses by simply scanning their expense receipts. They will also be able to track tax levied on every transaction, allow customers to view their invoices, projects, and make payments through the self-service portal. Businesses will have complete visibility of their finances with access to 30+ real-time reports on metrics such as best-selling products, pending payments, and more. Zoho Invoice is available for free, globally.

Businesses can integrate Zoho Invoice and Bigin to sync customer information and items, thereby eliminating the need to enter redundant information. They can also contextually integrate with Zoho Workplace applications for increased collaboration and productivity. Mobile apps for iOS and Android devices are available for all the products.

Businesses availing ZADE package will have access to standard support available to them. That allows access to knowledge base, community forums, a self-service portal, email support and remote assistance. It also includes live chat support and telephonic support during working hours five days a week.