Your customers already ask to pay over time. Right now that runs on a notebook, a WhatsApp thread and your memory. We built the rails that run it properly — mobile-money-native, WhatsApp-first, multi-currency — and we run six of our own storefronts on them before we ask you to.
You do not have to run software to benefit from layby infrastructure. Some partners licence the platform, some sell through our marketplace, and some just ship stock when a customer finishes paying.
For retailers with their own customers
Your brand, your storefront, your terms. Admin, customer portal, WhatsApp reminders, proof-of-payment capture and stock reservation — live on your own subdomain in under a day.
For brands and shops who want customers
List your products on ZimLayby and reach shoppers who already have an account, already trust the rail, and are already paying off other items. No software to run, no storefront to build.
For manufacturers and wholesalers
Your catalogue sits on a merchant's storefront. The customer pays the merchant over time; you ship at completion and settle at wholesale. You reach a customer who could never have paid cash — and you carry no credit risk.
Not a spreadsheet with a login. The whole loop — the customer applies, you approve, the money arrives, the stock is held, and the item walks out the door paid for.
Your catalogue on your own subdomain, your brand, your prices. Customers apply on their phone, choose a deposit and a term, and sign — no bank, no credit check.
EcoCash, bank transfer or cash. The customer sends proof on WhatsApp and it is read, matched to the right layby and receipted — without a staff member typing it in.
A deposit reserves the item automatically, so you never sell the same fridge twice. Released if they cancel, consumed at collection.
Reminders go out on WhatsApp before an instalment is due. Overdue laybys surface in a queue instead of in someone's memory.
Agreements, receipts and statements as branded PDFs, available to you and the customer at any hour — which ends the argument about what was paid.
Staff see the day's collections, the approval queue, and which items to pull. One screen, no reconciliation at closing.
Banks won't lend to them, so retailers lose them at the counter. With layby on a proper system, those same customers become committed buyers — and retailers grow their top line, not just their organisation.
"I'll save up and come back" rarely becomes a return visit. Layby converts that moment into a sale — captured today, with a deposit, before the customer drifts to a competitor with a payment plan.
When the framing shifts from "$549 upfront" to "$46/week", customers reach further up the shelf — the better model, the bigger appliance, the bundle they actually wanted. Average ticket size lifts measurably.
Each completed layby is a customer who already trusts the shop. They return for the next purchase without any acquisition cost. Layby creates relationships where one-time sales used to die.
The retailer doesn't touch a spreadsheet. The customer doesn't need a bank. Everything happens in WhatsApp, mobile money, and a clean web portal.
Mobile-first apply form. Pick items, set deposit and duration, e-sign. No bank check, no credit score.
Staff sees the queue, approves with one click. Inventory auto-reserves. Customer gets WhatsApp + email confirmation.
EcoCash, bank, cash, anything. Customer sends proof via WhatsApp. Auto-reconciled. Reminders go out automatically.
Item-by-item collection as the customer pays them off. Receipt, agreement and statement available as PDFs anytime.
A monthly licence per shop, plus a small share of what actually moves through the rail. Listing on the marketplace and hosted catalogue partnerships are commercial agreements — talk to us.
For a single shop finding its feet with layby.
For a working retail floor. The plan most shops land on.
For multi-location retailers and chains.
Plus 1.5–3% of layby GMV, capped per ticket, on every plan — we only grow when you do. Our own six storefronts run on this exact platform.
Before we sell you the software, we run our own layby marketplace — ZimLayby — on it: appliances, sofas, beds, groceries, solar. These numbers come straight from the live database, refreshed every time this page loads. Not slideware — what's flowing through the rails right now.
57% of Sub-Saharan African adults are unbanked. They can't access store credit. They can't use BNPL apps. They pay over time the way their parents did — at the counter, in cash, with a notebook. We turn that into software.
Retailers run layby on WhatsApp screenshots and exercise books. Customers and shopkeepers argue about what was paid. Trust is the friction.
The 400M unbanked are invisible to traditional finance. BNPL apps require KYC the unbanked cannot pass. Layby is the only working credit substitute.
Shopify ignores layby. Custom software is out of reach for a Harare or Lagos shop. We are the missing layer — purpose-built for African retail.
Your brand, your customers, your terms. Admin, storefront and customer portal, live in under an hour. See it working first on the marketplace we run ourselves.