Terms and Conditions

• Brand means a business that licenses the Services from Nile in order to sell its own goods through its own WhatsApp channel.
• Brand Agreement means the separate written agreement between Nile and a Brand, which governs the Services, fees and everything else about that relationship.
• Channel means a WhatsApp shopping experience operated by a Brand, using the Services.
• Sales Assistant means the AI conversational assistant a Brand configures and supervises in the Studio for use in its own Channel.
• Services means the social commerce infrastructure Nile provides to Brands, including the Studio.
• Shopper means a person who buys goods from a Brand through that Brand's Channel.
• Studio means the Nile Social Commerce Studio, the administrative interface Brands use to configure and manage their Channel.
• Website means onnile.shop.

The Services are the social commerce infrastructure Nile provides to Brands. A Brand uses them to open a WhatsApp sales channel of its own, configure its own Sales Assistant, sync its own catalogue, and see which content and which creators produced sales.

• Nile does not sell goods. We are not a retailer, a distributor, an importer or a producer, and we take no title to any goods at any time.
• Nile is not a marketplace. We do not list goods for sale, we do not bring shoppers to Brands, and shoppers do not browse or buy on any surface belonging to us.
• Nile is social commerce infrastructure. A Brand's Channel carries that Brand's name, its number and its Sales Assistant. A shopper is dealing with the Brand throughout.
• Every sale is a contract between the Shopper and the Brand. Nile is not a party to it.

Each Brand is responsible for its own goods, product information, pricing, fulfilment, delivery, returns, refunds, customer support and compliance with consumer law. Those obligations are recorded in the Brand Agreement.

You may use the Website to learn about the Services, request a demonstration, request installation, apply for a role, or contact us. You must be legally capable of entering into a binding agreement to submit any form on it.

You may not:

• use the Website for any unlawful purpose
• infringe our intellectual property rights or those of any third party
• submit false, misleading or fraudulent information in any form
• attempt to interfere with, disrupt or gain unauthorised access to the Website or the Studio
• scrape, harvest or systematically extract content, or use automated means to access the Website other than a search engine crawler acting in accordance with our robots file
• use any contact route on the Website to send unsolicited commercial communications

Where you submit your details through a form on the Website, we use them to respond to you and, where you have asked for it, to arrange installation or a demonstration. We handle that information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You confirm that the information you give us is true and that you are entitled to provide it.

Access to the Studio is granted under a Brand Agreement. Nothing on the Website constitutes an offer, and no plan, price or feature described on it is binding until recorded in a Brand Agreement.

Where a Brand's Brand Agreement conflicts with these Terms, the Brand Agreement prevails in respect of that Brand.

The Website, the Services, the Studio, the Sales Assistant technology and all content on the Website, including text, graphics, logos, images and software, belong to Nile or our licensors and are protected by copyright, trade mark and other intellectual property laws. Nothing on the Website grants you any licence to use them.

Brand names and logos shown on the Website belong to their owners and appear with permission.

We take reasonable care to keep the Website accurate and current, but it is provided for information. Descriptions of the Services, plans and prices may change. Nothing on the Website is a warranty about the performance of the Services, and in particular we make no representation about the volume of sales, revenue or conversion any Brand will achieve.

The Services depend on platforms operated by others, including the WhatsApp Business Platform operated by Meta, Shopify, and payment providers. The Website may link to those and other third-party sites. We do not control them, we are not responsible for their content or terms, and we do not warrant continued access to them.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss arising from your use of the Website, including loss of profit, revenue, anticipated savings or data.

Our liability to a Brand is governed by the Brand Agreement, which contains an agreed cap.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including for gross negligence, wilful misconduct, fraud, or death or personal injury caused by negligence.

Your contract is with that Brand. They sold you the goods. They are responsible for delivery, returns, refunds, warranties and support, and your rights under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 are rights against them.

So the first step is always to contact the Brand, on the same WhatsApp conversation where you bought, or through the contact details on their own website.

If you are stuck: if you cannot reach the Brand, email us at hello@onnile.shop and we will help you make contact. We cannot process a refund, arrange a return or resolve a dispute about goods, because we did not sell them to you and we do not hold your money. You may also refer a complaint about a Brand to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud or the National Consumer Commission.

If your question is about how your personal information was handled, our Privacy Policy explains which parts of that we are responsible for and which parts the Brand is responsible for.

We may restrict or withdraw access to the Website at any time, without notice, where we reasonably believe it is being used unlawfully, abusively, or in a way that threatens its security or availability. Access to the Studio is governed by the Brand Agreement.

We may update these Terms from time to time. The current version is always the one published here, with its effective date. Where a change materially affects Brands, we will give notice in accordance with the Brand Agreement.

• Plain language. These Terms are written in plain language as required by section 22 of the Consumer Protection Act. If anything is unclear, email legal@onnile.shop and we will explain it.
• Entire agreement. These Terms and our Privacy Policy govern your use of the Website. For Brands, the Brand Agreement and its Data Processing Agreement also apply and prevail where they differ.
• Severability. If any provision is unenforceable, the rest continues in force.
• No waiver. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of the right to do so later.
• Governing law. South African law applies, and the parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the South African courts.

Read alongside our Privacy Policy and our PAIA Manual.