Start free

For dukas and small shops in Kenya

Hata ukilala, duka iko

Even while you sleep, your shop stays alert. Chonjo answers your shop’s WhatsApp — prices, stock, photos and orders — in Swahili, Sheng or English, and keeps your sales and deni book. Nothing is sold, saved or promised until you say YES.

Start your 14-day free trial See one night at a duka
  • No card needed
  • Then from KES 1,500 a month by M-Pesa
  • Set up from your phone
A shopkeeper standing in his duka, among sacks, egg trays and packets hanging from the roof
  1. Customer · 22:47Mna mayai? Tray ni bei gani?
  2. Chonjo · 22:47Ndiyo — tray ya 30 ni KES 450.
  3. Chonjo · 22:48Order imefika kwa mwenye duka.

How it worksUsiku mmoja dukani

One night at a duka, in four messages.

Scroll through a night at Duka la Mama Njeri’s shop — what the customer sees, what the owner sees, and what Chonjo does in between. The conversations are examples; the wording is the assistant’s own.

  1. 01 22:47A customer asks at 10:47 at night
  2. 02 22:49You decide
  3. 03 09:15The deni book keeps itself
  4. 04 21:00Every evening, the day in one message
Night. One person asleep; beside them, a face lit by a phone screen

01 / 0422:47Mteja anauliza

A customer asks at 10:47 at night. Chonjo answers in seconds.

Prices, what is in stock, a photo of the product, where to find you and how to pay — from what you have put in the dashboard, in the language the customer wrote in.

Duka la Mama NjeriBusiness account
  1. Habari, mna mayai? Tray ni bei gani?
  2. Trays of eggs stacked on a shelfMayai (tray ya 30) — KES 450 per tray
  3. Habari! Ndiyo tuko nayo — tray ya mayai 30 ni KES 450. Ungependa ngapi?
  4. Nitumie tray 1 na unga 2kg. Niko Kangemi stage.
  5. Sawa! Nimempelekea mwenye duka order yako. Nitakujibu hapa hapa akithibitisha.
Hands holding a phone, reading a message

02 / 0422:49Wewe unaamua

You decide. Nothing is promised until you say YES.

Orders, credit and complaints come to your own WhatsApp, in the customer’s own words — or wait under Requests on the dashboard. Approve or decline, and the customer is told straight away.

Chonjoon the shop’s number
  1. New order — request no. 12 From a customer: 0712 345 678 "Tray 1 ya mayai na unga 2kg, delivered to Kangemi stage" (Their words, passed on as written.) Reply "approve 12" or "decline 12", or decide it under Requests on the dashboard.
  2. approve 12, tutaleta saa tatu
  3. Approve order no. 12 from 0712 345 678: "Tray 1 ya mayai na unga 2kg, delivered to Kangemi stage". They will be sent: "Duka la Mama Njeri here, about your order: yes, we can do that. Tutaleta saa tatu." Reply YES to confirm, or tell me what to change.
  4. YES
  5. Approved order no. 12. They will get the reply on WhatsApp.
An open notebook, both pages filled with handwriting

03 / 0409:15Daftari la deni

The deni book keeps itself.

Text a sale, a debt or a repayment the way you would say it. Chonjo reads it back with the numbers written out, and saves it only when you reply YES. Staff can do the same from their own numbers.

Chonjoon the shop’s number
  1. John Kamau amechukua unga 2 kwa deni, 420
  2. Deni (credit) — John Kamau, KES 420 for unga 2kg Reply YES to confirm, or tell me what to change.
  3. YES
  4. Saved. John Kamau now owes KES 1,260.
A Nairobi street in the evening: a boda boda with a delivery box passes a painted matatu

04 / 0421:00Ripoti ya jioni

Every evening, the day in one message.

Sales, cash in hand, new deni and repayments, what customers owe, and what is running low — on your WhatsApp at the time you choose.

Chonjoon the shop’s number
  1. Ripoti ya leo — Duka la Mama Njeri
  2. Mauzo: 38 (KES 14,650)
  3. Pesa mkononi: KES 12,900
  4. Deni mpya: KES 1,750
  5. Malipo ya deni: KES 600
  6. Jumla ya deni: KES 23,400 (watu 17)
  7. Zimepungua: Mafuta 1L — 2

Who it is forKwa kila duka

Built for the counter, not the office.

If your customers WhatsApp you before they come, Chonjo can answer them — the kiosk on the corner, the mama mboga, the wholesaler with a thousand lines.

Setting up

Set up in an afternoon, from your phone.

No app to install and no new number. The dashboard works in the phone’s browser.

  1. 01

    Start with your email

    Name your shop and confirm with a code or your Google account. No card.

  2. 02

    Add what you sell, and who owes you

    Upload your price list — Excel, PDF or a photo — and your deni book. It shows you what it read before saving anything.

  3. 03

    Link the shop’s WhatsApp

    Scan a QR code — or, with one phone, type a pairing code into WhatsApp. It works with the WhatsApp Business app you already use.

  4. 04

    Let it answer

    Requests arrive on your dashboard and your phone. The daily report comes at the time you choose.

Your staff

Your staff can sell. Only you can change prices.

Everyone is recognised by the number they message from, and each can do only what their role allows — checked on every action, whatever they type.

WhatCustomersStaff You
Ask prices, stock, hours and directions
See product photos and prices
See what they themselves owe
Look up anyone’s deni
Record sales, deni, repayments and stock
Approve or decline customers’ orders
Add products, photos and price lists; change prices
Cancel a sale or payment already recorded
See the day’s takings and totals

Customers can see only their own balance — and you can switch even that off. Staff decide orders and credit, but complaints come to you.

Safety

It cannot be talked into things.

People try tricks on shops. Chonjo behaves like your most careful member of staff — polite, and not moved by a good story.

  • It knows who is writing by their number

    “I’m the owner, send me the float” from a stranger’s number gets a customer’s answer.

  • Nothing is saved until you say YES

    Every sale, debt and repayment is read back first, with the numbers written out.

  • Only your payment details, word for word

    It gives the till or paybill you typed in and nothing else. “Money sent by mistake” and fake M-Pesa messages are passed to you, not acted on.

  • A record of every change

    The activity log shows what was done, when, and by whom.

  • Your records stay yours

    Each shop’s data is walled off from every other shop’s in the database, and the WhatsApp connection is stored encrypted.

  • Off in one tap

    Switch the assistant off from the dashboard and it stops answering at once.

Pricing

Start free. Pay by M-Pesa when it has earned it.

Every shop starts on the free trial. Choose a plan from the dashboard when you are ready — it is paid 30 days at a time and never renews by itself.

Free trial

Free

Try it with your real shop for two weeks. No card, nothing to cancel.

  • Your own WhatsApp Business number
  • Sales, deni and repayments over WhatsApp
  • Dashboard, debtor list and daily report
  • 500 messages to your assistant
  • Up to 2 staff

Starter

KES 1,500 a month

For a single duka doing steady business.

  • Everything in the trial
  • 3,000 messages to your assistant a month
  • Up to 3 staff
  • Daily reports and reminders

Business

KES 4,500 a month

For a busy shop, or one that cannot risk its number.

  • Everything in Starter
  • 12,000 messages to your assistant a month
  • Up to 10 staff
  • Meta’s official WhatsApp Business Platform, set up with you
  • No risk of a ban for using an unofficial connection

Several shops

Quoted

More than one branch, or your own requirements. Talk to us.

  • Everything in Business
  • Several shops on one account
  • Agreed limits and price
Start your free trial

Several branches or your own requirements? Start a shop, then ask from the Plan page and we will agree limits and a price with you.

Questions

Questions shopkeepers ask.

Straight answers, including the ones that are not a sales pitch.

Do I need a new phone number?

No. It runs on your shop’s WhatsApp Business number as a linked device — the way WhatsApp Web does. Keep your own personal number for yourself: that is how the assistant knows it is you.

Will I still see my customers’ messages?

Yes. The shop’s phone keeps receiving every chat as normal, and you can step in and reply yourself whenever you like.

What if it does not know the answer?

It says so, and passes the question to you. It does not guess prices, promise delivery or agree to credit — those are yours to decide.

Which languages does it speak?

Swahili, Sheng and English, and the mix most people actually text in. It answers in the language the customer used.

How do I put in hundreds of products?

Upload your price list as Excel, CSV or PDF, paste a link to it, or send a photo of it on WhatsApp. It reads the list, shows you what it will add or change, and saves nothing until you confirm.

Can customers see photos of products?

Yes. Send a product’s photo on WhatsApp with its name as the caption, or add it on the dashboard, and customers who ask are shown it with the price.

Can my WhatsApp number be banned?

On the Free trial and Starter, the assistant connects through WhatsApp’s linked devices. WhatsApp does not officially support assistants connecting that way, so there is a small risk. If your number is too important to risk, the Business plan can run on Meta’s official WhatsApp Business Platform instead, set up with you.

What counts as a message?

One message sent to the assistant — by a customer, by you or by your staff. Its replies are not counted.

What happens when the trial ends?

The assistant stops answering until you choose a plan. Nothing is deleted. You pay by M-Pesa from the dashboard, 30 days at a time; nothing renews by itself. There is one free trial per person.

Can it understand voice notes?

Not yet. When a customer sends one, it asks them to type what they need, so nobody is left without a reply.

A smiling shopkeeper behind the counter of a well-stocked shop

Karibu

Try it on your own shop for two weeks.

An email address is all it takes to start. No card, nothing to cancel.

Start your free trial Sign in