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Long queues at retail stores are apt to scare shoppers—especially when they’re slow-moving. Standing at the checkout line for what seems like ages is hardly a hobby; it’s not uncommon for shoppers to abandon their carts when they think cashiers are taking too much time sorting purchases and collecting payments. Studies suggest that these queues cost supermarkets and shopping malls millions of dollars each year. Many would think that persevering at the checkout line is a necessary evil; but not Tunde Ademuyiwa and Qudus Quadri.
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Tunde and Qudus, have decided to tackle this problem via a startup that takes much of the buying and verification process to mobile screens. This aptly named startup, Jump n Pass, helps customers at stores avoid queues by enabling them to scan and pay for their purchases on their phones, before exiting their shopping location. The team at Jump n Pass promotes their platform as a win for shoppers and retailers alike. They say it cuts checkout times at stores by between 60% and 90%. That means customers only spend minutes at those locations and enjoy a more convenient shopping experience than what’s traditionally possible. When customers are satisfied, they visit stores more often and won’t abandon their carts—translating to more earnings for retailers.

Jump n Pass: The Path to Slashing Lines and Times

For Ademuyiwa and Quadri, the journey to founding Jump n Pass was long. Before working together on their latest venture, they had been teammates at Wolfparc, a startup that designed and shipped packaging for SME products. Ademuyiwa was the cofounder there; Quadri was the Chief Technology Officer. They also have something else in common—they both have a background in Engineering, having studied at the University of Lagos at about the same time. Ademuyiwa has a history of founding and leading businesses in the tech sphere. Back in 2017, he built Kiakia Print, an online print and design company, and among the earliest of its kind in Nigeria. By November 2022, when he cofounded Jump n Pass, he already had more than a decade of entrepreneurial experience under his belt. Over the next several months, the Jump n Pass team fine-tuned its strategy. Then they got backing from Techstars and raised pre-seed funding from a mix of angel investors and venture capitalists. Coming into 2024, they had begun partnering with several of Nigeria’s better-known supermarket chains. As of the time this article was written, the startup had deployed its self-checkout technology with Justrite Supermarket, Jendol Superstores, Wisebuyers Supermarket, and Supersaver Supermarket.
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In May 2024, Ademuyiwa announced that they had landed 225 stores in the United States within 3 weeks of being in that country. While expressing his excitement about the development, he noted that Jump n Pass had its sights on going global, but hinted that the pace of its growth had surprised him.

How Jump n Pass Works

Persons who want to use the Jump n Pass platform can do so via its web or mobile app. Once on the platform, they can do a quick search for the store they intend to shop in and select it from a provided list. Then they may proceed to scan the barcodes of the products they want to purchase, adding them to their virtual cart. After selecting and confirming the items they’re buying, customers can pay for the products via bank transfers or topped-up in-app digital wallet (the team at Jump n Pass says other payment options are in the works). Finally, users may proceed to do a quick verification of their payment with the self-checkout cashier and have their purchases bagged before leaving the store. Jump n Pass charges a convenience fee of between ₦50 and ₦100 per session or cart of products bought. The specific value charged depends on the volume of goods purchased. At the moment, there’s a limit on the number of items that users can buy with Jump n Pass. According to Ademuyiwa, the limit exists because the platform wants to keep lines at stores short. The greater the volume of items bought, the longer it takes for self-checkout attendants to verify them. Persons whose shopping lists are especially long will have to pay at the regular cashier’s desk.

Trying to Succeed Where Others Have Failed

Jump n Pass isn’t the first Nigerian startup that’s attempted to solve time-killing queues at retail outlets. Two others come to mind: FastCheckout and OyaPayGo. Unfortunately, both have shut down. It’s not clear why this happened, but their demise points to the difficulty that stands in the way of ventures trying to solve the problem that Jump n Pass is tackling.
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Ademuyiwa says he knows that figuring out self-checkout is a hard challenge. But he’s banking on his considerable entrepreneurial experience and the skill of his team to succeed where others have faltered. The quick wins they have picked up in recent months make him optimistic about their chances.
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This article was first published on 4th June 2024

ikenna-nwachukwu

Ikenna Nwachukwu holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He loves to look at the world through multiple lenses- economic, political, religious and philosophical- and to write about what he observes in a witty, yet reflective style.

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