KFC South Africa becomes Mini Program partner on the Vodacom Super App
Vodacom Financial Services has announced that quick service restaurant (QSR), KFC South Africa, has become a Mini Program partner on the Vodacom Super App.
By leveraging the Mini Program technology within the Super App, KFC can now benefit from the many opportunities to access new customers, trade and promote its business at a personalised level at no cost on what is, arguably, South Africa’s most high-tech and infinitely scalable digital mall.
KFC South Africa turns 50 this year. With over 960 outlets across the country, the quick service restaurant chain is the largest franchise operation in the country. The brand was placed first in the Sunday Times Top Brands fast-food category each year since 2004 and was awarded Overall Favourite Brand in 2017.
KFC is one of approximately 70 businesses that have already signed up or committed to build their own Mini Program in the Vodacom Super App. These include retailers, fast moving consumer goods companies, food outlets, transport operators and others from a wide range of industries including leading online travel and shopping brands. We are signing up more and more partners to ensure that the consumer has a wide variety of products and services in one convenient Super App.
The VodaPay Super App is characterised by its scalability. “Our objective is to offer this capability to as many businesses as possible, irrespective of size and across multiple industries. We are delighted that a South African QSR giant such as KFC will now be our partner, allowing it to leverage from the Super App through its own Mini Program,” says Vodacom Financial and Digital Services, Chief Officer Mariam Cassim.
Mini Programs are lightweight apps that run inside another app, in this case the VodaPay Super App. They do not need to be downloaded or upgraded through app stores. They are cached on the phone, making it faster to load than a mobile app and cost significantly less than developing a full app due to a much shorter time to release.
Merchants such as KFC can take advantage of numerous capabilities and platform features within the Super App digital mall. VodaPay provides the payments infrastructure on which the merchant and consumers transact, and Mini Programs can accept both physical and online payments from customers with the in-app VodaPay digital wallet.
Apart from the technical and platform features, a clear advantage for a Mini Program partner is its exposure to Vodacom’s customer base of more than 43 million customers in a data-free environment.
“Whether a user is looking to pay bills, send money, play games, order takeaways or shop online, there’s likely to be a Mini Program for it,” explains Cassim.
The telecommunications industry, with its access to a large customer base, extensive distribution channels and strong brand presence, is well-positioned to connect people and deepen financial inclusion.
Nic Duminy, Digital Director at KFC South Africa, says “Digital acceleration, broadening our eCommerce reach and investing in new eCommerce channels are key strategic focus areas of KFC. Our eCommerce strategy aims at ease of access and customer retention, putting KFC’s online ordering platform in the hands of as many South Africans as possible. The customer experience needs to be simple and seamless so that our customers keep coming back. In addition, these channels are centred on offering deals and exclusive offers that provide real value to customers within the digital space.”
The VodaPay Super App aligns perfectly with KFC’s digital strategy. “Expanding access to eCommerce channels to the 40+ million Vodacom customer base gives us a captive audience that understands the benefits of a Super App,” says Duminy.
Building the KFC Mini Program took place through close collaboration between the two parties’ tech teams. Duminy says, “This is a first for us. No two Mini Programs are the same and each partner company has their own integration requirements. Robust testing and good communication ensured success. Once the KFC mini program is launched, we look forward to achieving incremental digital sales through this unique platform, resulting in a world class experience for the customer.”
“Through Vodacom’s transformation from a telco to a full-technology company, we’re eager to partner with organisations of all sizes as well as creative and dynamic developers, businesses and innovative technology start-ups. Creating Mini Programs is the first step to accelerating digital engagement,” Cassim concludes.
VodaPay’s technical team will be offering merchants and developers training on how best to use the technology at their disposal. Registrations are currently open.
