Q: Innovation is essential particularly in the post-COVID era. How is this reflected in your sector?

The e-commerce sector’s chief challenge was coping with the demand peak without losing focus on quality of service.

It was ultra-important for Kapruka to re-innovate its business process to match new supply chains, import limitations on goods, last mile delivery and peaking customer demand.

Kapruka was also able to convert a major social media backlash into an instrument of ‘top of mind recall.’ We were able to increase month on month sales by 30 percent since the pandemic by quickly adapting to new norms.

Q: How can organisations create a culture of innovation?

The organisational leadership must be open-minded and provide more freedom to employees – especially younger team members who seek culture and a positive work environment over salaries and job security.

This ‘no questions asked’ freedom we offer has garnered an immensely innovative culture at Kapruka. We paved the path for anyone from delivery agents to the director board to contribute to new innovations.

Moreover, we consider each employee’s main strength, believing that they are gifted. If you assign them the wrong job, they will feel stupid; if you ask a fish to climb a tree, it will live its life thinking itself incapable of anything. So it’s important to understand the key strengths of team members.

Q: In what ways can innovation be leveraged to enhance corporate reputation?

In the initial days of the pandemic, Kapruka experienced a major social media backlash. The method we used to mitigate this was patience. We were mindful to react but not overreact. Innovations sometimes lead to controversies and we should never underestimate the power of controversies.

The corporate reputation is a mirror image of how customers view us, not how the general public sees us. Innovative steps were taken to enhance our corporate image based on the fundamental fact of how present customers view us. It’s clear that companies perceived as ‘most innovative’ enjoy a significant reputation advantage over competitors.