Telkom has launched Yep! – a digital marketplace for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The telephony group says as the tough economic environment continues to affect industries adversely, small businesses are hit the hardest, and the marketplace will help alleviate some of the pressures.
Telkom, which is facing a massive decline in fixed-line revenue, revealed earlier in the week that the new digital ecosystem is for SMEs, which it says are key to post-COVID-19 revitalisation of the economy.
The telco says the marketplace is geared toward economic sustainability, creating a long-term future for small businesses.
Yep! users can locate businesses or services they require in an area, request quotes, directly book appointments from the app, view the store online and review its ratings.
They can also create their own online store with their own unique branding and upload their list of services to find new customers.
“Think of Yep! as a ‘friend’ to small businesses, as it provides a scalable solution to help grow and enhance their reach,” says Lunga Siyo, CEO of Telkom Business.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has far-reaching effects, none of which paint a bright future for many businesses and even more so in South Africa where SMEs form the backbone of the economy.
“Yep! will play a critical role in ensuring the survival of the country’s small businesses that we’ve come so to rely on and help provide and grow the job sector.”
Yep! is a resultant product of the Yellow Pages transformation by Telkom.
CEO Sipho Maseko told media this week of the telco’s new vision with the Yellow Pages division.
“We will transform them to an online marketplace for small businesses and help them scale, grow and transact with customers.
“Evolving the current platform into an e-commerce platform enables SMEs to purchase solutions tailor-made to them, manage their profiles, their accounts, upgrade their services in a seamless experience offered on a digital platform.”
Yep! will be available for download in the App Store and Google Play.