Paints manufacturer, Crown Paints has rolled out an application that enables customers to select the colours they want online and locate the nearest authorised dealers.
The digital app also enables a customer to estimate the amount of paint required for different sizes of rooms to the nearest square metre thereby guiding their purchases.
“Customers using the app can locate the nearest authorised hardware and receive suggestions of trained painters available within their area,” said Group Chief Executive Rakesh Rao.
“They can also select colours they want from the online portal that allows them to virtual try different paints on a virtual wall.”
The company hired a website cum mobile software developer to come up with the platform, was launched internally for a pilot phase that necessitated several upgrades.
“We also introduced a philosophical and emotional way when looking at paints for different rooms. Some colours calm feelings in a sitting room while other colours applied on bedroom walls soothe one to sleep,” added Mr Rao.
“This is a game-changer for this market where a customer’s mood determines the choice of a colour based on where it will be applied.”
The app also uses Chinese Shui and India’s Vastu colours to blend in customer preferences. This has proved popular with users.
“Since its launch three months ago, it (app) has attracted nearly 40,000 downloads with 5,000 regular users identified among them contractors, painters and individual hardware owners,” he said.
Speaking at his Likoni Road office in Nairobi, Mr Rao said they had improved their customer queries’ response time with clients getting an opportunity to directly choose their preferred colours that were made and delivered via their selected Crown Paints distributors.
“We have a platform where customers virtually mix up to 14 colours and then proceed to place orders for their interior and exterior decorations,” he said.
Mr Rao added that since launching a training clinic that had enrolled 80,000 painters with another 11,000 trained this year, Kenya now has adequate paint professionals.
The colour app will be upgraded to incorporate more features, the firm said.
“We are working on a new upgrade where we shall be able to link customers to authorised distributors and painters near them. We are also building our database that will inform future paint making as well as sales to different regions across East Africa based on preference and class,” he said.
The on-the-go platform, Mr Rao said had also enabled them to directly communicate with their dealers and painters regularly when new products were delivered.
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