Kenyans continue to feel the pinch of tax increase after signing into law of the new finance bill. Prices of commodities have skyrocketed while income remains stagnant. Some are even losing source of income due to layoffs as businesses restructure to survive tough economic times.
Women who bear the responsibility of home management in many Kenyan households are most affected. Women control 75% in consumer spending and are responsible for 80% of household buying. Women don’t shop only for themselves – they have their entire household in mind – and they are trying to squeeze in a lot with little time to do it in. They therefore have to find ways of saving on the recurrent household shopping without additional stress of physical bargain hunting on everything.
Most women believe shopping through ecommerce helps save a lot. Catherine, a mother of 3 children says shopping online has helped her save almost 30% of her monthly expenses. “The one obvious benefit of doing your household shopping online is that there is no impulse buying, unlike going to a mall or supermarket. You order and pay for what is necessary and see all costs upfront. No holding your breath at the till with every click”. Catherine is a full time home manager surrounded by many responsibility to keep the family going. “Carrying things is a thing of the past, who wants to carry 10 bags into the boot and into the house in 2018 and I truly don’t like queues and crowds?” Said Anne who stays in the outskirts of Nairobi and has a fulltime job.
The continued growth of ecommerce globally has seen leading players venture into the African market to stimulate growth and encourage development of local ecommerce platforms. Jack Ma, The founder of Alibaba Group visit to Kenya in 2017 and subsequent launch of USD 10 Million Netpreneur prize in 2028, a program designed to support African entrepreneurs create solutions that address daily challenges faced by Africans is a sign of good things to come. The program jointly managed by NAILAB a business incubator that focuses on the growth of innovative technology will drive the growth of digital economy and support local ideas that better the life’s of Africans.
When women shop, convenience trumps all else reveals the 2013 National Grocer’s Association-Supermarket Guru Consumer Panel Survey. This is corroborated Globally, some of the Top drivers for women to use e commerce shopping are 39% to save time, 36% to save money, 27% to save driving and fuel cost and 15% to purchase in bulk according to The Hartman Group, Inc., The Online Grocery Shopper Report.
Heri online, an e-commerce platform that won the Stanchart Women In Technology 2017 seed fund has built a community of women focused on easier management of household shopping. Rita Oyier, Founder Heri Online and a Digitalk Africa top women in digital 2017 honoree says “Our monthly orders have gone up by more than 100% with 90%+ of our customers being women in the last 8 months. Women shop for supplies to cover between one month to three months. Our inventory is purely customer driven and mostly value packages to last longer. The fact that we get our products directly from the manufacturers allows us to offer better prices on every item compared to going to the supermarket. We also deliver to homes making our offering convenient for women”.
A lot of time and money is spent going directly to do shopping where you have to spend on fuel, pay for parking and queue wasting a lot of time. Ecommerce platforms relieve Mother’s the shopping burden and gives them more time to focus on their job and the family.
Online platforms like Heri are on the rise and their model offer convenience, save cost and are a Great experience to the urban up and mobile busy consumers. It is expected that more consumers will adopt ecommerce as the Mode of shopping going forward.
The author is the founder of Digitalk Africa Limited.