Zimbabwe is a nation of trends given the dynamic nature of its operating environment. The majority of these trends are borne out of people’s reactions to the economic situation. Zimbabweans are actually known for being resilient; they always find ways to stay afloat. Bad as the economic situation has largely been, it has also enhanced the business mindedness of the people. That is why the informal sector has continuously grown to a point of being the most dominant. Lately one of the noteworthy trends is that of runners, specifically runner shops. A runner is basically someone who offers cross-border errand services. Runner shops are physical shops which are operated by runners.

What Being A Runner Entails

At the most basic, a runner conducts cross-border errands for clients at a fee. It mostly involves making purchases in neighbouring countries for clients in Zimbabwe. However, the range of errands that one can do is limitless. There are 3 common types of runners in Zimbabwe. One, are runners who are Zimbabweans based in South Africa. Two, these are Zimbabweans based here in Zimbabwe. Three, cross-border transporters e.g. buses and haulage trucks. In order for any of these approaches to work there are always some cross-border collaborations. Today our focus is on runners who buy things in bulk from South Africa. Referring to those ones who then open up a shop in Harare and resell at wholesale prices.

A Breakdown Of How The Runners Operate

They buy certain items in bulk from South Africa. Some of the common things they buy are comprehensive clothing items and consumer electronics. This spans to just about anything that is highly sought-after. That is why you find them selling almost any household item. Clothing is the biggest focus of most these runners.

You will even find some runners selling the clothing items at prices less than those on the stickers. That is also a dynamic that holds true for other items other than clothing. Effectively this means they resell what they buy at wholesale prices. Despite them selling at wholesale prices, they do not limit who can buy. End users can buy from them at wholesale prices even if it is just a single item. Then of course there are those who buy several items to later on resell.

Some operate this new age runner business from home. Some go beyond that to operate from rented spaces e.g. malls, in other outlets, and so on. Then the growing trend is to actually open a shop to operate from (runner shops, you can call them). In Harare this has become a common sight wherever you go. The same applies to other towns as well.

One of the key things that have popularized runner shops is the use of social media. The most used platforms in this respect are WhatsApp and Facebook. WhatsApp though has proven to be the most effective since virtually anyone with a smartphone is on WhatsApp. What these runners do is that they create WhatsApp groups and they share links for people to join. These are non-interactive groups usually so only the group administrators can post. Daily they at regular times or intervals post what they have in stock, including contacts details, the prices and the location of their outlets. This means through simple keystrokes on a smartphone these runners can reach thousands of people daily. For example, having more than 100 WhatsApp groups translates to at least 25 000 people.

Runner Shops Have Come In As Disruptors – They Are Gamechangers

By disruptor in this context I am referring to an entity or someone that brings about a new way of doing things that moves away from the usual or expected flow of things. There was a time when the norm was to source stuff from South Africa either directly or via runners. This is still on-going but it is no longer the sole model. Those who used to source stuff that way now just source them from these local runner shops. Back then it would have been unimaginable but it has taken root now. It is remarkable that these days someone can source stuff from one part of town and resell elsewhere in the same CBD.

Runner shops have become so popular that traditional outlets are feeling the heat. This is mainly due to how cheap runner shops items are. A good example is comparing a runner shop against a traditional boutique or clothing store e.g. Edgars. A decent pair of jeans in a runner shop costs roughly 3 times less than in a traditional outlet. In other words, for say, US$20 you can get 3 pairs of jeans in a runner shop. This shows how disruptive these runners’ model is.

The fact that these runner shops are still emerging has a bearing on prices as well. Competition amongst these runners is growing so pricing flexibility has become inevitable. Their prices are already quite cheap to begin with but competition can and will drive them down more.

Overall, this has made lots of items cheaply accessible to the general populace. Almost anyone who has some form of monthly income can now afford to buy clothes and other basic items. It is a win-win scenario because the runners are realizing great profits regardless of the cheap prices. Being this type of runner is no doubt one of the easiest businesses to start in Zimbabwe today. You have to be ready to get creative because competition is stiff and strategic spots to operate from are getting scarcer. One thing is for sure, runners are taking Harare (and Zimbabwe at large) by storm.