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#StartupStory: Receive your digital receipts using Snapslip
7 Oct 2019
Snapslip Holdings is a South African digital receipting and analytics application that takes data from each receipt and produces spend, trend and predictive analytics, all on one platform.
Lynton Naicker, CEO of Snapslip
We chat to Lynton Naicker, CEO of Snapslip, who aims to eradicate the costs of paper receipts while enhancing your customer’s shopping experience...
Can you tell us a bit about Snapslip?
Snapslip is a digital receipting and analytics application and website, that eradicates paper receipts by sending these receipts digitally to a customer’s profile, giving the customer a digital receipting repository.
Snapslip then takes the data from each receipt and pairs it with customer profiling to produce spend, trend and predictive analytics, which it provides to retailers, financial institutions, manufacturers and insurance companies. The aforementioned stakeholders can use these insights to know their customers better and provide greater product market fits and offerings thus increasing their revenue streams and customers.
When, how and why did you get started?
I bought a pair of trousers that were on sale and unfortunately, I didn’t try them on in the store and tried them on at home. They, however, didn’t fit and due to the nuisance of paper receipting, I misplaced the receipt. I went to the store to exchange/return the trousers and after a very heated and embarrassing argument, I left with the trousers as I was not able to return them.
I then realised that everything around us has made the transition to a digital medium, yet we still do receipting in a very archaic way, this is when Snapslip was born. However, I also realised the data mining potential geared to spend analytics and predictive modelling that could be mined, and this could be a multifaceted tool solving several pain points.
The pair of trousers still remain in my cupboard to this day as a constant reminder as to why I’m on this journey.
What are some of the services you provide?
We provide customers with the freedom to never have to deal with paper receipts by giving them a digital receipting repository which they can use for returns, exchanges, refunds, warranties and guarantees, as well as tax and insurance claims. The customer will also not have to experience the embarrassing ordeal I went through when trying to return ill-fitting trousers.
We also provide the customer with a month-on-month spending analytics tool to which they can view their spending and create budgets on the back of that.
We provide retailers with a digital receipting platform that reduces their costs and loss of customers’ goodwill, due to paper receipting. We also provide retailers with a platform to now know the personalities of their customers through our spend, trend and predictive analytics models so that the right customer gets the right product at the right time.
This gives the retailer the opportunity to know their customers via Snapslip’s online dashboard which encompasses customer profiling, spend behavioural and predictive analytics and cross-selling recommendations.
What are some of the obstacles you've had to overcome since starting out?
Fintech is a very dynamic space with many challenges, one of them being tapping into the unknown. We have faced many obstacles that delayed our launch timeline, some were technical, but others have been regarding us not knowing the unknown. How we have overcome these obstacles is by taking them on and learning from them as we can possibly apply these learnings to our next obstacle or challenge.
What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?
Two things that stood out in my journey is that you have to have that drive and not give up no matter how many critics say you will not make it. The second thing is don’t try to perfect the product pre-launch, release the MVP as fast as you can and work on changes as you undergo your release. First to market and solving a customer problem that they are willing to pay for, is always key.
What has been your proudest achievements thus far?
Snapslip being selected for the Startupbootcamp AfriTech 2019 cohort and having the opportunity to share the Snapslip journey with Prince Harry and Princess Meghan (Duke and Duchess of Sussex) on their recent visit to Cape Town, South Africa.
What does the future of entrepreneurship look like to you?
I think from an African perspective it looks great, especially due to markets such as the US, UK, EU and Asia looking at Africa as an investment hub. From an investment perspective, the African market does not require the high amounts in the pre-series rounds than do the overseas equivalent, however, our solutions are scalable to these overseas markets making them very viable investments.
We are in the very early stages of most of the startup ecosystems and with this comes massive opportunities. The world is a lot smaller with technology these days, so the sky really is the limit.
What is the importance of startup accelerator/incubator programmes?
I believe it is very important as they groom you into a more refined entrepreneur and equip you with the right skills to compete and scale in the market. Personally, the lessons and guidance I have received from Startupbootcamp has been extremely valuable. I also believe that in our growing startup ecosystem there should definitely be more accelerator/incubator programmes.
What would you like to see changed in the South African/Africa startup landscape?
More active participation from both the government and corporates. There are many funds that are being made available for startups or startup/SME development, however, these funds are publicised but not impactful as the funds don’t materialise or there is a 12–18-month process to apply for such funds. These funds don’t come with any support such as an incubator which is vital to help early-stage entrepreneurs to utilize these funds effectively.
The second part is that corporates usually are happy to fund startup initiatives but for the CSR/CSI opportunity and not to fully benefit from the potential of the disruptive and innovative nature of startups that can truly benefit the corporate and may even give them access to a new market and or competitive advantage.
What do you believe are the traits an entrepreneur needs in order to succeed?
Tenacity with regards to never giving up, especially when the going gets tough and trust me, when you think you have seen it all, this ecosystem always has something new.
You need a vision to see the bigger picture, it’s very hard for many people to encapsulate an idea written on a page or in one’s head, but an entrepreneur needs to have that vision and know-how their startup can be the next unicorn.
Finally, an entrepreneur must never be afraid to pivot, Startupbootcamp has taught me to fall in love with the problem, not the solution, as the solution may change but the problem will always remain stagnant and awaiting a pivot-able solution.
Tell us about your biggest struggle as an entrepreneur, as well as some major highlights.
The biggest struggle is security in the sense that as an entrepreneur nothing is certain, you need to take everything as not being set in stone. There will be a lot more lows than highs, so learn from the lows and celebrate the highs no matter how small they may seem.
The major highlight is the self-gratification in knowing that you are changing the world with a solution that you are pioneering.
Why would you encourage someone to become an entrepreneur?
I don’t think entrepreneurship is for everyone and that’s fine! It is however for the rebels, the innovators, the disrupters and the movers and shakers and there might be a glimpse of that in all of us, so whether we choose to embrace it is up to that individual. If you are thinking of embracing it, I would definitely recommend you take the leap.
I can assure you that it’s not easy, but I can promise you that it is definitely worth it.
Where would you like to see Snapslip in the next five years?
Snapslip solves a global problem in the sense that everyone around the world deals with paper receipts, the need to be known and treated as an individual and the reduction of wasteful usage of resources such as trees for producing paper receipts.
So, I would see Snapslip being the biggest receipting company in the world that never prints a single paper receipt but also a company that gives corporates the tools to treat their customers as individuals.
To do the above we are working on expanding to the US, UK, EU and Asian markets as we speak. Within the next five years, Snapslip will be a Unicorn.
