Bidvest Waltons and Karri, powered by Nedbank, are proud to announce their partnership to ensure a safe, simple and convenient Back To School experience for South Africa’s Learners, Parents and Teachers.
Almost 30 years ago – Bidvest Waltons established the Back To School Stationery sales solution in which they partnered with schools to give parents a simple and convenient purchasing solution for their children’s stationery needs. Today – the iconic “Back To School Box” is a favourite in many South African households with parents able to order the traditional way by using printed order forms, through the Back To School eCommerce platform (backtoschool.co.za) or at any one of Bidvest Waltons 53 Retail stores.
Enter Karri, a company established in 2016 with the intention of creating a cash-free school environment and alleviating the administrative burden and safety concerns of schools manually collecting cash. This was achieved through the Karri Payment App. Over the next five years, the Karri App became one of the highest-rated local Apps and Karri quickly established itself as a frontrunner in school-based innovation. This partnership is proof that nothing has changed.
Going into the new Back To School season – Parents will be able to purchase their Waltons Stationery Packs securely through the Karri App. Gone are the days of cumbersome order forms, walking up-and-down crowded retail store aisles or fumbling with cash or EFT proofs of payment at school handouts. Parents will now be able to buy their stationery packs directly through the Karri App in mere seconds. Schools will also love the solution with the elimination of the administrative burden of handing out catalogues and order forms, collecting orders and handling cash. This facilitates school safety initiatives in a COVID-19 world by limiting physical activity and interaction within school premises; all replaced with a single click of a button. The Karri app is powered by Nedbank which ensures that parents’ and schools’ money and information are treated with the greatest care and in compliance with the highest safety standards.
Olivia Rungasamy, Bidvest Waltons National Schools Manager, said “We always aim to simplify our customer purchasing experience and we are excited by what this innovative partnership with Karri affords our partner schools, parents and learners: Solving the all-time hassle of buying Back To School stationery. We have a responsibility to our customers to ensure that their Back To School shopping experience is safer and more convenient now and long into the future.”
Douglas Hoernle, Karri CEO, added “The changes to the school terms as a result of the pandemic has put a lot of pressure on teachers, parents and learners – We are in the fortunate position of being able to do our bit to take away some of the administration that would otherwise take away from valuable teaching time.”
