Several of us have been wishing to get a chance to buy online, mostly electronics like phones, have a database that you can use to search for new arrivals, or whether a product is available in stock before you embark in the journey to the shops to ask if they are available. Safaricom is in the late stages of announcing an online shop for electronics and other services, paid for via award winning Mpesa. Now we all know all other payments online that use Mpesa or other mobile money services like Airtel Money, Orange money and Yukash require some long process. Safaricom being the owner of the game, could make this abit more streamlined, as they dont require an API to implement integration to the specific service.
Products going to be available for sale will be laptops, mobile phones, tablets etc. Users will be able to checkout and pay for the products via Mpesa, this will then have an option for delivery(shipping) in some areas for free and others at a small fee. Duration of delivery is something we will have to figure out once its announced. Shoppers will also have a choice of picking the devices at the Safaricom shop of their choice if they feel like there is an inconvenience in delivery.
I dont know if this will signify the beginning of availability of products for pre-order like with other carriers, but its something worth considering. So Safaricom, when you launch this, please make Samsung Galaxy S III one of the devices available for sale. Something else am looking forward to seeing is affiliate selling. Would come in handy for those of us who review gadgets.
As usual I appreciate your comments. Will this help shape the e-commerce industry in Kenya getting more people buying online?
