Portfolio Learnings: Every1Mobile

Improving family health is at the core of UJoin, a mobile-friendly online community developed by Every1Mobile and supported by TRANSFORM. In this Portfolio Learning, we bring an overview of this solution, which connects low-income shopkeepers and consumers in urban Nairobi.

UJoin helps owners of Base-of-the-Pyramid shops, called dukas, build their businesses while also strengthening the livelihoods and improving the health of the community. The sustainable mobile platform increases business growth for the dukas and increases access and demand for affordable WASH and nutrition products for consumers.

Supply and demand

Combining supply and demand-side solutions for health outcomes, Every1Mobile believed that, given the right digitally driven business models, incentives and resources, dukas could become effective catalysts for health promotion and behaviour change among low-income consumers. The challenge was to build a sustainable, scalable digital business that:

• Increases dukas’ business capacity, customer loyalty and revenues as an effective incentive to supply more WASH and nutrition products, and;
• Engages consumers, providing them with access to health information and behaviour change messaging, and create affordable access to, demand for and consumption of WASH and nutrition products.

To achieve this, UJoin included features such as e-Learning on business skills and financial management, e-Vouchering system for product discounts, points systems, and health information and behaviour change messaging.

Along with other vital partners, TRANSFORM provided support to help strategise, research, design, build and roll out the model across informal urban settlements in Nairobi.

Now and the future

UJoin has enrolled more than 3,600 shopkeepers in the online community since 2017. In its recent report, Every1Mobile highlighted that 85% of the dukas surveyed experienced an increase in sales, with the top 10% of performing dukas doubling their sales.

Over 23,000 consumers benefit from savings on health and nutrition products, and more than 140,000 e-Vouchers have been redeemed. In addition, dozens of dukas developed their first business plan with the help of the Duka Academy’s first business planning course.

In the future, its aim is to be present in more Kenyan cities, and then in 11 cities in three countries, including Ghana. UJoin hopes to scale the network to 10,000 shops and 200,000 consumers by the end of 2019.

Find more Portfolio Learnings in our News section, or read more about the solutions supported by TRANSFORM in Our Portfolio.