The e-commerce industry in Kenya is a growing one, quite young. We are yet to see the boom and response from users that has been envisioned by many who see the global landscape as a mature e-commerce one. Some of the reasons why it hasn’t really picked locally is trust in the business, setbacks in payment systems and lack of the much needed internet penetration which stands at 40%.
Some would see this as bad business, others see it as a very good opportunity to venture into new territory. One of these hopefuls is www.onlineshopping.co.ke, an ecommerce website that sells electronics since August this year. Online Shopping was started on the footing of offering guarantee in service and warranty on the same. They sell electronics on a basis of cash on delivery via a team of 25 delivery personnel. Delivery to the consumer is free, a move which they attribute to the fact that they have included delivery costs in running costs. Online shoppinag has a focus on products that you would not consider cheap. They have no products selling below Kshs. 6,000 and the fact that they have a policy of not charging for deliveries on products worth 6000 and above means they dont charge at all.
Mobile phones are some of the fast moving items in the online shop and they see a point in time when customer confidence and awareness will boost enquiries and sales. Plus since they offer prices that are generally below market rates, they expect that with growing awareness the website will have scaled much by the end of year 2012.
This company has been selling electronics for quite some time but this venture in the Kenyan space is the first, they plan to grow further to spread out talons to the African market, possibly in Q1 of 2013.
