“The way we built it (our technology) is to be extremely simple. We try to strip down any complications.” — Tobi Amusan, CTO, MVX.
How do you approach a problem as complicated and multi-faceted as the logistics situation in Nigeria with technology? What should your technology solve? How do you create a user experience that satisfies the uniqueness of your customers and their environment? What about the cost in time, resources, and energy?
How do you build an empathetic technology that answers the challenges of African shippers at little to no cost?
In our obsessive desire and focus on accelerating trade in Africa with technology, we found two things: innovative technology is not enough. It must be local and must capture the reality of African merchants. Two, it must deliver the best user experience anchored on simplicity, flexibility, and trust.
For example, how do you use digital technology to help a 49-year-old Nigerian sesame seed exporter from Plateau State, whose business is dying because of the fragmented and costly freight forwarding process in Nigeria? Mr Kenneth, the sesame seed exporter, would not bear to use websites or web applications. Although modestly exposed, he is more comfortable making calls and chatting with agents on his internet-enabled mobile phone.
For such a merchant, how do you reach and help him in his comfort zone?
Before we launched, we had had it at the back of our mind that our technology would be easy-to-use and would meet African merchants where they are most comfortable. Logistics, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, exerts a lot of pressure on merchants. Poor infrastructure, extortionate costs owing to a fragmented freight forwarding process, opaque custom clearance procedures, and constant port delays are some of the challenges businesses face. We tackle these challenges by aggregating the entire process involved in import and export for African merchants using technology.
Enabling Ease and Flexibility with Tania, Africa’s First Freight Booking WhatsApp Chatbot
Do you remember the sesame seed exporter story above? Our answer to his unique challenge was to build a first-of-its-kind freight booking WhatsApp chatbot to enable him and thousands of merchants like him across Africa to book their shipments on a platform they are familiar with and are comfortable using.
Our chatbot, called Tania, reduces the shipment creation and booking process by at least 85%, helping merchants save time and resources. See evidence of Tania’s ease of use and efficiency in the images below.
Tania is extremely easy to use as it mimics the WhatsApp chat environment. Automated, Tania guides you through the shipment creation process with personalized, close-ended questions.
Since Tania is automated, close-ended questions and options allow the system to determine your response and offer bespoke answers in line with our services and your needs.
Combining texts with icons is also a part of the personalized experience Tania offers. We made her as less robotic and detached as possible because we understand how much your business means to you. So we try to create an experience that helps you visualize what you need and how you need it. Mixing texts with icons reduces the “computer” element of our self-service solution, which allows you to relax and feel safe.
Speed is one of Tania’s superpowers. The entire shipment creation process does not take more than 5 minutes, on average. We process quotes at the backend and email them to you almost immediately. Using Tania allows you to book your shipment on the go and free up enough time for you to use in growing your business.
Tap here to chat with Tania.
Simple, Useful, Efficient — MVX Builds Tech to Support Your Trade Ambitions
We ask ourselves these questions daily: what can we do to make things better? What can we do to make better things? Providing answers to these questions helps us to create products and services that cut costs for customers and deliver unmatched user experience constantly. Also, answering these questions helps us obsess over customer satisfaction and raise the customer satisfaction bar every time!
Our innovative products are easy to use, highly functional, and deliver results in record time. We base our business decisions and the products we build on verified data to ensure we address every pain point we identify in our users that aligns with our overall vision.
Why don’t you experience MVX today? Tap www.mvx.trade to start your journey!