Zimbabwe Post (Zimpost) has launched its e-commerce platform- Zimbabwemall, as part of the public entity’s digital transformation drive from being a traditional post office to a digital post offering diversified digital services.
The platform facilitates online shopping, thus offering customers a chance to select items onto a shopping cart, confirm their order, make payment and then Zimpost rendering delivery logistics both locally and internationally.
“The zimbabwemall sits on the Universal Postal Union dot Post infrastructure which is a Top Level Domain that is very secure. In this era of cyber threats, there is no doubt that customer confidentiality and security of information of both buyers and sellers is of utmost importance. The UPU Dot Post domain provides this necessary cover,” said Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Jenfan Muswere at the launch this morning.
Zimpost, formerly the postal arm of the Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (PTC) has survived waves of technological innovations in its twenty years of existence.
The development comes at a time government is restructuring the State-owned enterprises and pastatals in various ways to meet global trends so as to make them relevant in the digital age.
Traditional post office business has come under immense threat to viability prompting Zimpost to embark on its massive digitalisation program.
“The total transformation of Zimpost from a traditional post office to a digitalized post needs the adoption of e-Post tenets that will enable Zimpost to deliver services on the electronic and mobile platforms,”
“I want everything to be ‘E’ enabled at the post office: e-Commerce, (being launched today,) e-Government services, where the citizens will conveniently access Government services; e-education to help students access educational sites at Community Information Centres (CICs); e-health to facilitate telemedicine activities. Zimpost must evolve to be a Smart Post Office that delivers ‘next generation’ services,” said Muswere.
The Zimbabwemall platform is accessed online at www.zimbabwemall.post and is will also be crucial for the country’s Diaspora whenever it wants to shop online and have goods delivered at the door-step of their relatives at home.
This marks its grand entry into the lucrative but very competitive e-commerce market involving regional and global giants such as Jumia and Alibaba.
The platform also presents a window of opportunities for local emerging businesses to sign up and expose their products to a wider market globally.
“For our SMEs, be they sculptors, basket makers or any other producer, this platform gives you the access to global markets; I am heartened to learn that the National Handicraft Centre is already on this platform,” said Muswere.
Earlier this year, Zimpost announced that its revenue grew 115 percent to $45 million last year compared to $20 million in the previous year, resulting in a net profit of $6.8 million thanks to its business turnaround strategy.
