Busbud Partners With Stitch To Expand Reach In South African Market
Busbud Partners With Stitch To Expand Reach In South African Market. Travel booking website Busbud was looking to increase adoption and conversion in the South African market and needed a strong local payments partner. Busbud partnered with Stitch and implemented InstantPay, enabling South African customers to purchase tickets via Instant EFT, directly from their bank accounts. The Busbud team leaned on Stitch’s local expertise for insights into the South African online payments space to help them iterate and improve their UX.
Travel booking website Busbud is on a mission to make it easier and more affordable to enjoy sustainable travel through innovative technology. Recognising the pitfalls of intercity bus travel, characterised by a lack of accurate information and difficulty of use, more travellers were opting for expensive, less sustainable modes of transportation. Busbud set out to disrupt the space by creating a seamless travel booking solution, which is now available on almost every continent.
To ensure they’re able to offer the most comprehensive and robust solution, Engineering Leader Jacob Cook said their operations team manages partnerships with bus companies all over the world, navigating complex market nuances and various payment solutions. Like many other businesses expanding to new territories, Cook explained that having a local partner that can offer support and guidance is key to achieving growth. “It’s great to work with companies like Stitch who deeply understand the local markets we’re working with, and are able to offer advice to help us have the biggest impact.”
He noted that up until now, much of the valuable information in the industry has been exclusively available to bus operators – including things like purchasing patterns and consumer personas. Stitch worked closely with the Busbud team to help them understand things like local payment preferences or what might be driving failed payments. The Busbud team used these insights to iterate and tailor their solutions, ultimately keeping customers coming back.“Having a partner like Stitch is pretty essential for us because that’s our window into how the South African consumer interacts with e-commerce websites. Continuing to have that relationship where learnings are shared on both sides will help make it a better experience for everyone.”
