New data from Stanbic Bank Kenya’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed companies reduced staffing levels during the month, ending a stretch of continuous job creation that had lasted since the start of 2025. 

Many businesses said the reductions mainly affected temporary workers as lower demand eased pressure on capacity.

The PMI fell to 46.6 in May from 49.4 in April, the steepest deterioration in business conditions since July 2024. A reading below 50 signals a contraction in activity.

The downturn reveals a strong slowdown across the private sector. New orders declined for a third consecutive month and at their fastest pace since mid-2025 as customers cut spending and tightened household budgets. 

Business activity also weakened further, with firms linking the decline to lower sales and softer demand.

Construction and services companies reported falls in both output and new orders during the month. Manufacturing was the only sector to record growth in production, while declines were recorded elsewhere. Agriculture and retail businesses were among those that reduced staff numbers.

Private sector employment fell after firms reported they had enough capacity to handle current workloads. Backlogs of work also declined for a third straight month, reducing the need for additional hiring.

Christopher Legilisho, economist at Standard Bank, said: “The Stanbic Bank PMI data for May reflects a deterioration of business activity by private sector firms. Inventory purchases slowed, from being expansive, because of weakening sales, cash flow concerns, and rising costs. 

“Consumer resistance to spend, alongside rising costs, contributed to contractions in new orders and output. These declines may stem from the week-long disruption to business activity because of nationwide protests by transportation sector players that constrained movement.”

High costs added to the challenges facing businesses and, ultimately, jobs in Kenya. The survey showed overall input price inflation accelerated to its strongest level since November 2023, driven largely by higher purchase costs, fuel expenses and transportation charges.

Although wage costs continually increase, businesses kept salary growth moderate. Many firms also slowed inventory purchases and held back spending as they sought to preserve cash due to weaker sales and tighter margins.

At the same time, companies passed part of the higher costs on to customers. Selling prices rose at the fastest pace in two and a half years, with all five monitored sectors reporting increases.

The weaker business conditions will likely lead to concerns about employment prospects, particularly as thousands of young Kenyans enter the labour market every month. Consumer-facing businesses, including startups and technology firms that depend on household spending, could also face softer demand if spending remains subdued.

Despite the difficult operating environment, firms were optimistic about the year ahead. Business confidence climbed to its highest level since February 2023, supported by plans to increase advertising, introduce new products and expand digital sales channels.

Legilisho added: “Inflationary pressures have intensified, constraining demand conditions, with input prices, purchase costs and output prices driven up by higher fuel and transportation costs. Still, despite subdued business momentum, firms remain optimistic about future conditions.”

Infobip recorded new levels of total customer communications interactions on its platform this year, with 3.4bn interactions on the day of Black Friday, which represents a 26% increase when compared to last year.

From the total number of interactions, the company identified 1.8bn coming from messaging interactions on its platform, up from 1.7bn last year.

Infobip’s analysis reveals SMS, E-mail and WhatsApp are the three most preferred channels on Black Friday, recording more than 1.6bn interactions during the day.

This Infobip’s messaging analysis reinforces the company largest messaging platform worldwide, and its reliability for brands during shopping season.

Rich communication channels such as RCS, have recorded significant growth this year, as brands seek convenient and conversational channels that enable end-to-end customer journeys.

This year, RCS interactions on Black Friday increased 17% compared to a typical day in November and increased 388% compared to last year.

Infobip also reveals that, in this year’s Black Friday, Retail & eCommerce and Finance industries are between the top 5 sectors which generated interactions in the company’s platform, presenting increases of 42% and 36%, respectively, when compared to last year.

As predicted, Infobip’s data reveals that Black Friday sales extended across the entire month of November. Interactions across the whole month were higher than last year as brands sought to attract consumers looking for discounts pre-Christmas.

Ivan Ostojić, chief business officer at Infobip, said:

“Rich Communication Services (RCS) have emerged as a significant channel for shoppers this Black Friday. The increase is driven by consumers seeking conversational experiences with brands and businesses seeking to provide end-to-end journeys for their customers in one channel. Moreover, brands’ focus on hyper-personalization has helped drive conversational customer experiences and, we expect, will have boosted sales. Our research also shows the traditional Black Friday discount days now typically stretch across November, with a big spike in interactions across the whole month as retailers and eCommerce firms seek more cost-conscious consumers this year.”

South African retail and e-commerce businesses are stepping up their game by weaving Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) into their omnichannel strategies to meet evolving customer expectations.

Customers here tend to favour brands that deliver a smooth shopping experience, whether online or in-store.

With e-commerce sales set to hit R225 billion by 2025, retailers are keen to boost customer engagement and loyalty by adding more digital touchpoints.

They’re tapping into smart technologies like AI-powered chatbots and GenAI-driven personalised SMS campaigns. These innovations offer real-time support and tailored promotions, helping keep customers coming back for more.

The rise of GenAI is helping retailers supercharge their customer experience (CX) by allowing them to hyper-personalise interactions.

Now, businesses can create content and engage with customers based on the information they gather during their interactions. This means retailers can relate and connect with customers on a personal level.

By using AI-powered chatbots, retailers can provide instant support and be available for their customers around the clock. This not only improves the CX but gives retailers a competitive edge. The bottom line is that the better their GenAI strategies are, the more they’ll stand out.

Challenges persist

Despite the advantages of GenAI, South African retailers are up against some challenges when implementing omnichannel solutions powered by GenAI technology.

One major hurdle is the fragmented nature of some retail solutions, with businesses often relying on different service providers for each channel. This can make it challenging to deliver a consistent customer experience.

Another challenge many retailers face is that their digital infrastructure is often lacking because they haven’t kept up with digital transformation.

This can hold them back from truly realising their omnichannel strategies. To tackle this issue, they must embrace a unified solution on a single platform that supports a seamless customer journey.

Despite these challenges, some local retailers are successfully integrating GenAI into their omnichannel strategies. Take a prominent South African hardware retailer, for example; they have developed a robust e-commerce platform that lets customers start their shopping journey online.

Customers usually interact with a chatbot on this platform. If an issue arises – like receiving the wrong items or an order not being fulfilled – they can chat with the bot again.

At this point, the interaction can be handed off to a human agent who can assist the customer more effectively, thanks to having a line of sight of the entire customer journey up to that moment.

GenAI is also very good at detecting customer sentiment, so when a customer starts using words such as “unacceptable” during the chat, this can raise a red flag, enabling a human agent to take over and resolve the situation faster.

Leveraging customer data

By capturing data from their chatbots, cloud contact centre solutions, and customer data platforms and feeding it into their GenAI application, retailers can keep their connections with their customers more personal, customised, and bespoke.

Plus, GenAI can guide the customer through all key steps of their journey – discovery, consideration and purchase, service, retention, and loyalty.

Data shows a significant shift towards mobile commerce, with 60% of online purchases now happening on smartphones.

As retailers once focused mainly on desktop portals, this trend has led many to rethink their strategies and adopt a mobile-first approach.

Retailers are prioritising mobile-optimised websites and creating apps specifically designed for mobile.

At the same time, they also keep in mind other features mobile-enabled features, like the growing popularity of mobile payments and digital wallets.

In the end, a seamless CX can significantly boost revenue growth. Retailers can improve customer engagement and satisfaction by being available across multiple touchpoints – online, mobile, or in-store.

This leads to higher conversion rates and increased sales, all driven by a refined CX and the benefits of an omnichannel strategy.

This is also where GenAI plays a crucial role, as it can process all customer data and help businesses cross-sell and upsell effectively.

By signing up for unified, scalable CX solutions, retailers can achieve effective omnichannel communication and customer engagement. It will also enable them to leverage GenAI technology better.

These solutions are engineered to address retailers’ challenges and bring out the best in each channel.

This approach improves revenue and cuts costs, paving the way for personalised customer experiences and sustainable business growth in the digital age.

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What lies ahead for retail in a world that smells faintly of recession with whiffs of economic depression but is driven by the overwhelming scent of innovation and emergent technology? The answer is…people.

The cost of living, the nervous twitches of the global economy and the lingering recession are all having an ongoing impact on the retail sector and its outlook for 2024.

What lies ahead? What lessons learned in 2023 will shape decision-making, investment and innovation so the sector can thrive and pivot regardless of what economies and consumers throw its way?

It is, RIYAAT PHILLIPS, Senior Presales Manager at Altron Systems Integration, key for the retail sector to prioritise key efficiencies within the business leveraging technology and analytics to streamline decision-making.

“One of the key issues that has affected the sector in the past and will remain a priority going forward is workforce management,” he continues. “It’s key that retailers can solve for demand, building staffing efficiencies to ensure stores deliver customer service and manage demand effectively. A commitment to optimising the workforce and its efficiencies result in measurable growth and this can be seen in the current South African retail landscape with some chains showing steady growth and expansion while others are cautious.”

Another trend, particularly in the local retail environment, is the move to technology. Companies are increasingly recognising the return on investment that comes with investing into technology tools that allow them to optimise their approaches and operations.

Overtime, management, employee attendance, and scheduling – these can all be tracked with software that can then provide retailers with visibility into their overall staffing performance.

“Tools with built-in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and analytics are improving reporting versatility and allowing for retailers to better recognise problems and implement preventative measures before they happen, or in time to mitigate the damage,” says Riyaat. “It is very likely that 2024 will see this conversation continue to change as retailers leverage AI, ML and digital to improve productivity and gain much-needed business clarity.”

The next year is also set to become the age of change for the retail sector. Traditionally regimented in approaches, retailers are not as locked into how they have done things in the past.

They are more inclined to embrace technology and use it to their advantage. This is largely due to the fact that technology has proven a point.

“There are tools available to retailers that allow them to get better returns on an extremely granular level,” says Riyaat. “Consider this – what if an AI-driven solution could assess which cashiers are good at customer communication and upsell well? These individuals can be identified and motivated to sell an extra item or meal or bag during peak times and this then delivers increased sales and customer engagement. It is a proven concept that has been rolled out in stores already and retailers are seeing tangible results.”

This is also paving the way for another key trend in 2024 – the employee as a leader. Happy, engaged employees can determine a retailer’s destiny.

Shoppers will return to a space where the people who greet and help them are passionate about their jobs and making a difference.

The impact of apathy and antipathy on a customer’s experience cannot be understated. In fact, the fifth South African Customer Experience Report found that apathy is on both sides of the South African fence as customers expect less and less from their shopping experiences and brand engagements.

In fact, only 14% of brands cited customer retention as an important metric. Why? When retention is the least expensive route to growth it seems odd that grabbing the next customer has become more important than holding onto existing ones.

The country, says the Report, needs the next YuppieChef with such a startling commitment to customer service that it makes people come back time and again.

“We need to invest in our people, and we are getting there,” concludes Riyaat. “The local sector’s resistance to change will crumble over the next year to two years and slowly start using technology to clamber over these barriers and dive deeper into serving people – within the business and without. People are the biggest trend and the biggest lesson. When employees feel seen and their work recognised – a reality powered by AI and relevant technology – they will pass this value on to the customer who will feel as if they have found service and visibility at a time when both are sorely lacking.”

Effective fintech product activation involves creating a robust digital payment ecosystem that not only addresses the unique challenges of diverse markets but also empowers individuals and businesses to participate fully in the global economy.

As a seasoned professional in the fintech and payments industry, I have witnessed firsthand the transformative potential of well-activated fintech products.

These solutions have not only expanded financial inclusion but have also revolutionised cross-border transactions, enabling businesses to operate seamlessly across borders and empowering individuals to access essential financial services.

Reflecting on our experience launching Proximity Pay in Nigeria’s retail sector during the 2020-2021 period, my team and I successfully navigated the complex payment landscape by prioritising a customer-centric approach.

Through innovative solutions and tailored offerings, we overcame initial scepticism and fostered a widespread adoption of digital payments, demonstrating the profound impact of putting the user at the heart of fintech innovations.

This is just one example of how fintech can reshape economies, empower communities, and drive progress.

As we look to the future, the role of fintech will continue to evolve, serving as a catalyst for positive transformation across industries.

*Olaniyi Ibraheem | FinTech, Digitalization & Innovation Specialist | BDM Africa | Payment Orchestration

ALSO READ: 4 Methods for Meeting Customers at their Pain Points Instead of Just Selling

Establishing itself as a central work hub or virtual headquarters, Zoho Workplace is a unified office platform that combines collaboration, productivity, and communications tools.

It is now a flexible, full-featured business mail and cloud office suite that is built on a common data model and unified through search and AI, enabling users to operate collaboratively and seamlessly through applications.

Commenting on the continued innovation, Kehinde Seun Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria said: “In the past year, Zoho Workplace adoption has accelerated as businesses of all sizes transition to digital-forward, hybrid work. With a clear focus on continued innovation, Zoho is well-positioned to thrive during this time of readjustment. The goal of Zoho Workplace is to enable businesses to unify their work to a point where the line between apps disappears. It is heartening to see so many new businesses join the Zoho family, using Zoho Workplace as their customizable center of gravity.”

Zoho Workplace has grown 30% year-over-year with a rapidly expanding global user base of over 16 million, Workplace continues to revolutionize the way teams work together. Workplace is among the top five products in Nigeria where it has seen a growth of 106%. There has been an increase in the number of migrations to Zoho from notable tech companies such as Namecheap.

The predominant industries driving this trend are Finance, IT, FinTech, Retail, Non-IT Professional, Other Orgs and Services.

The growth is attributed to increasing business demand for simplified, streamlined solutions that maintain utmost standards for user privacy as well as rising costs from other collaboration platform providers. Additionally, migrations from Google, Microsoft and GoDaddy to Zoho Workplace almost doubled in 2022 globally.

Zoho continues to enhance its suite of workplace products with new features aimed at improving collaboration, productivity, and communication.

The company has introduced Zoho Trident, its first native desktop app that unifies mail, messages, audio/video calls, calendar, tasks, and more in one place. Furthermore, Zoho Voice is now fully integrated within Zoho Cliq and Zoho Meeting, allowing employees to make direct line calls, send SMS messages, and pick up inbound calls across the apps.

In addition, Zoho Webinar within Zoho Meeting enables businesses to broadcast to thousands of attendees, engage with them using polls and Q&As, and present virtually without sharing their screen. Zoho has also introduced BluePencil, an AI-based grammar tool with a text editor that can be used on any third-party webpage. Universal Drag and Drop functionality saves time by letting users move files between products with a simple drag and drop. With a focus on security, Zoho has added Mobile Device Management capabilities and OTP-restricted emails to its workplace suite. Lastly, TrueSync has been added to Zoho Workdrive, removing hard drive storage limits and allowing users to access and make changes to their files locally and in the cloud.

“The new Zoho Workplace announcements show a deep commitment to creating choice in the digital productivity sector with a broad integrated suite that continues to innovate,” said Dion Hinchcliffe, VP and Principal Analyst of Constellation Research, adding, “the improvements to unified communications, the addition of high performance native functionality, improved security, and the addition of new AI capabilities keep Zoho Workplace in the uppermost echelon of productivity suites in my analysis. Zoho Workplace with its newest applications Trident, Webinar within Zoho Meetings and Phone systems within Zoho Cliq and Zoho Meetings is helping users do their jobs more efficiently and effectively.”

Zoho Workplace Pricing:

Zoho Workplace is available in three editions: Standard is ₦780 per /user/ month billed annually. Professional is ₦1,560 per /user/month billed annually. Zoho Mail is ₦260 per /user/month billed annually.

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By supporting real-time decision-making, combining edge computing with digital signage improves the customer experience and boosts sales.

Although in-store purchases continue to make up the bulk of retail sales, a tightening economic situation means it’s essential to maximise every opportunity to make a sale once a customer reaches your door.

We also know that brick and mortar stores remain the heartland of retail sales in South Africa, even though 68% of local consumers are shopping more online since the pandemic.

Deloitte has found that the focus will increasingly turn towards an omni-channel shopping experience to still cater for the sizeable ‘offline’ market in the country. It is therefore important for retailers to extract maximum value from every store.

A digital signage solution powered by edge computing uses real-time decision-making to attract, convert, and retain retail customers.

Grasp a competitive edge

Edge computing is transforming retail, one store chain at a time. Effectively, it keeps data processing closer to where the data is generated, and this reduces latency and delivers almost instantaneous results.

This means that stores can respond to customers in the moment – tailoring experiences, building loyalty, reducing friction, and proactively trouble shooting.

Digital signage is flexible enough to support a customer who wants to be in and out quickly, as well as one who wants to browse and enjoy.

Edge computing turns digital signage into a vibrant, responsive tool that makes central management and control easy, with the ability to change displays across the chain at the touch of a button. It also refines how you engage with customers, unlocking service capabilities that depend on rapid responses.

This is crucial in an ultra-competitive environment where customer expectations are sky high. Research shows that South African retail customers are more price-conscious and value-seeking than many other markets.

This results in them being less brand loyal as they shop for specials. To restore loyalty in this segment requires the retailer to identify meaningful touch-points that engage with customers in the ways they prefer.

Use edge computing technology to attract customers’ attention

Digital signage powered by edge computing is an effective way to create an impact. Imagine a striking video wall of moving images in your window enticing customers in off the street.

And why not bring video cameras into your edge computing solution so your displays can change to reflect the demographic profile of passers-by?

Or respond to weather variations so, if it’s pouring with rain, you showcase umbrellas, and if it’s a sunny day you feature swimwear.

Once inside the store, digital signage can take on a guiding role, drawing customers towards displays and then providing interactive information as they touch the items. It’s an opportunity to educate and influence by sharing product features, providing comparisons to cross-sell and up-sell, and telling your brand story.

Interestingly, the screens don’t have to be large to be effective. Tablet-sized screens positioned strategically at key point of sale positions are equally as capable of moving a customer closer to a purchase – whether it’s planned or not.

All retailers want to increase basket size and this last-minute messaging can inspire people to buy products they may not have considered unless they saw certain signage.

Edge computing empowers retail customers

Digital signage boosts customers’ control over their in-store experience, removing the need to get a sales associate’s attention. With the rapid flexibility that local processing provides, edge-based signage can signpost key areas like pay and information points – and react to real-time fluctuations in availability, highlighting the shortest queue, for example.

Backed by edge computing, digital signage can also support self-service functions, like check-ins for loyalty coupons and promotions, requesting order pick-ups or finding out the store’s policies.

Plus, empowering customers is a proven way of building brand loyalty and a willingness to visit again. Digital signage lets you promote offers and discounts, capture customer feedback, and share relationship-building messages such as thanking them for their custom.

The retail business is growing with the redefinition of how supply meets demand. Most recently, retailers need not worry on how to restock their stores with groceries as technology is being deployed by fast rising business to business (B2B) firms.

This evolution is bringing more fulfilment to retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and these tech firms that play the middleman role with their services readily accessible online and offline.

A micro business owner, Aliyu Bala Idala in Kano is happy that Alerzo, a B2B e-commerce firm goes the extra mile by offering free delivery of goods he orders.

He shared: “I do buying and selling in Kachachi market, a local government in Kano. I sell provisions and food items at wholesale prices. I have been running this business for the past 10 years. We give glory to God that I have been doing business with Alerzo for the past two years and I am happy doing business with them.

“In the past, we usually wouldn’t get goods delivered to us. We would go round the markets buying from one shop to the other. But now we don’t go through the stress of going to the markets; we order what we want and they deliver to us at our shop. This is a big achievement for Alerzo.”

Not only that he and other traders get his goods delivered at the right time for free by Alerzo, he added that Alerzo empowered them with PoS machines, “We enjoy making use of the PoS. It helps in our daily dealings with customers.

The strong entrepreneurial spirit of women no doubt makes them a major force in the contribution of the micro business sector to Nigeria’s GDP.

Ninety (90%) percent of Nigeria’s retail market transactions according to reports are estimated to worth $100 billion out of which the food and consumer goods retail market alone accounts for an estimated over $40 billion.

Adewale Opaleye, founder and Chief Executive Officer of leading B2B e-commerce platform Alerzo, once commended the contributions of women to the socio-economic growth of Nigeria. His perspective on the import of women to the micro business segment is inspired by his mother who was a shop owner.

He experienced firsthand the challenges his mother, like other shop owners, faced in the running of her business – issues of inventory management, access to capital, logistics and so on – which seemed endless.

His subsequent study in China and witnessing how the country used technology in solving similar problems, inspired him to tackle business challenges in Nigeria using the same technology. This was how Alerzo was born.

Today majority of the micro business owners on the Alerzo platform comprise women. The core focus of B2B e-commerce companies like Alerzo is to help micro business owners stock their stores with original and quality products directly from manufacturers and distributors, delivering the products to them free of charge, thus helping them to overcome most of the challenges associated with their business.

Micro business owners in general no longer have to deal with most of the issues that affect their profitability and ease of doing business, thereby changing the landscape for them one delivery at a time.

With its delivery services, retailers save time, energy, and resources that they would have otherwise expended in restocking.

These benefits have resulted in 85 percent of the retailers on the Alerzo platform reducing their two to four times a week restock trips to zero. This is further transforming the businesses of all informal retailers on the platform.

With B2B e-commerce bringing continuous improvement to how retailers, including women, run their businesses, the import of women to the micro business sector and economic growth in general cannot be undermined.