Terms of service

Soko is a SaaS platform for African SMEs. We provide a shared identity, tenant, subscription and billing layer, and the storefront product that runs on it. Your relationship with Soko begins when you create an account at getsoko.co/signup.

You agree to maintain a single Soko account and to keep its credentials secure. We will never ask you for your password.

A Soko tenant represents a business. The account that creates the tenant is its owner; data created under that tenant (storefronts, customers, orders, financial records) belongs to the tenant. You can transfer ownership or delete the tenant at any time from your account settings.

Plans are billed monthly through our payment partners. Switching plans takes effect immediately; cancellations take effect at the end of the current period. We don't store card details — every payment runs through Marzpay's hosted gateway or mobile-money STK push.

Soko acts as a bridge between buyers and sellers. We do not inspect, hold, or guarantee the quality of items listed. Each shop owner is an independent legal entity responsible for their own inventory, pricing accuracy, fulfilment, and business conduct.

We provide the storefront infrastructure and the WhatsApp handoff. We do not provide escrow, payment processing, or dispute resolution for transactions completed off-platform.

Tapping Order on WhatsApp initiates a chat with the seller. You agree to use the seller's contact information only for legitimate business inquiries about products listed on Soko.

Soko does not monitor these chats and is not a party to any agreement made within WhatsApp. Disputes about delivery, condition, or pricing must be resolved between buyer and seller directly. We can help mediate through our support team but cannot enforce outcomes.

Sellers coordinate their own riders (typically boda-bodas). Soko is not liable for transport delays, damage during transit, or non-delivery of items.

Critical: Always pay on delivery, after inspecting the item. We strongly discourage sending Mobile Money deposits before the physical product is in your hands. Soko cannot recover funds sent in advance.

All sellers and buyers agree to the following baseline conduct on Soko:

• No counterfeit or illegal products of any kind.
• No impersonation of other brands, shops, or people.
• Accurate location and product information is required — misleading listings will be removed.
• Professional conduct at all times in chats and transactions. Harassment, threats, or hate speech end the account.

Violations may result in listing removal, shop suspension, or a permanent ban depending on severity.

If a subscription payment is not made, the storefront is paused: visitors see a short notice instead of the shop, and the seller keeps full access to the dashboard. Nothing is deleted at this point.

A shop that remains paused is held for 30 days from the date it was paused. On the day after that period ends, the following are permanently deleted:

• Products, including the photographs uploaded with them.
• Storefront pages and discount codes.
• Order history, including the buyer details recorded on each order.
• Saved customer records, wishlists, and storefront visit statistics.

The following are not deleted:

• The Soko account and its sign-in.
• The business name, web address and storefront branding, which remain reserved for the account holder.
• Subscription and payment records, retained as required for accounting and tax purposes.

Notice. An email is sent to the account holder on the day the shop is paused and on each day it remains paused. Every message states the deletion date. A final message is sent once deletion has taken place. Where no notice can be delivered to the account holder, deletion does not proceed automatically.

How to prevent it. Subscribing at any point before the deletion date ends the process immediately and restores the storefront unchanged. To request a copy of the data beforehand, contact support at any time before that date.

Deletion under this section is permanent and cannot be reversed. It is carried out automatically on the schedule described above.

You can delete your Soko account at any time from Account → Danger. This cascades: your tenant, your storefront, and all historical records are removed. We retain anonymised aggregate analytics; no personally identifiable data persists.

Soko provides the platform as-is. We are not a party to transactions or communications conducted through it.

We update these terms as the product evolves. Material changes will be announced to active sellers via email and highlighted on this page. Continued use of the platform after changes go live constitutes acceptance.

Questions about these terms? Reach us at +256 778 087 986 on WhatsApp.