Introducing E-Commerce in Kenya
The e-commerce sector is a new frontier in business that calls for close partnership between the e-commerce players and back-end logistics to ensure a positive customer experience from that first click to eventual delivery.
Online retailers must place greater focus on conveniently locating inventory close to their markets to facilitate faster deliveries. The inventory must, therefore, be secure, and the services offered must be efficiently and safely delivered yet offer the best value for money to ensure the customer appreciates the value of goods bought.
Efficient, Reliable, Logistics
Logistics players have a critical role in supporting the e-commerce process by shipping, managing stock levels as well as making final deliveries to end destinations. Systems have been adopted to integrate e-commerce retailers and logistics entities to allow for a seamless process.
Today, warehouse management systems have been adopted that enable inventory owners to view their stock on demand. The systems allow them to view available stocks, guide preorder decisions as well as ease the stocktaking process.
Lastly, providing tracking numbers to customers in their confirmation email so that they can keep track of where their package is, is very important.
Building Your E-commerce Solution
Building an e-commerce solution is easy. The best e-commerce sites will come with the tools to walk you through the entire process. The process being; Hosting, design, pricing & payment options, marketing tools and reports. Now that we’ve briefly taken you through the processes in building your E-commerce platform, let’s take you through the Three S’s of E-commerce.
Three S’s of E-Commerce
1. Storage Space- Make sure you have enough inventory space and bandwidth to fit your needs. The best e-commerce platforms will ensure your online shop sells without limitations.
2. Safety Protocols – Safety is paramount when setting up an E-commerce platform. Fraud protection and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, ensures the protection for you and your customers. (SSL) technology makes it possible to send online payments securely and is a must-have on all e-commerce sites.
3. Site Design – Your e-commerce solution should have a user-friendly interface. Functions of each tool should be clear and it should be easy to select your desired options. An extensive FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section and designated customer support team can make a huge difference. Remember it’s all about the needs of your customers. Imagine that you’re shopping in your own online store. Well-designed menus, filters, and sorting options will minimize the amount of time it takes to find a product and purchase it.
In addition, consider the “look” of your site. Just like a physical store, a cluttered and disorganized e-shop display will leave customers frustrated and empty-handed, whereas a streamlined and enjoyable buying process, will encourage purchasing.
Challenges facing E-commerce
“Building trust”
Some customers are stuck on the cash on delivery principle, people need to see the product first before spending their money ~ this is as a result of lack of trust in the quality of products being sold via e-commerce platforms in Kenya.
Increasing trust: A first purchase made online with poor delivery will discourage consumers.
“Culture and convenience”
Though convenience is the “C” of today’s society, culture still has prominence in people’s online shopping behaviour and has a strong root in determining the failure or success of your e-commerce venture.
Trends in E-commerce
Government & Company Policies- For businesses in the financial sector as well as business with regulatory bodies, venturing into e-commerce requires backing by government and internal company policies. The past year has seen this occur in the insurance sector where companies like Britam are now able to offer online self-service products to customers. The sign-up processes are still quite lengthy; however, this is a step in the right direction.
Quality – Delivery, customer service and product have to be communicated in a transparent manner and this has been quite visible in the Online shops, where they declare e.g. “quality material” on some of the clothing items they sell.
Diversification – Diversification of the types of goods and services provided through e-commerce, from daily groceries to monthly subscriptions and even insurance and banking services.
Digital Marketing for E-commerce
Social media is the newest entrant in the e-commerce space. People who might not afford to build whole websites and apps are now turning to social media. On social media, they have a ready audience who they can talk to without much advertising. The challenge in using social media for e-commerce is that it would take a little bit longer to buy as the conversation goes offline; into mostly WhatsApp, thus a longer path to purchase. This model has however worked very well for small business owners in the retail space, who are making profits from their Facebook and Instagram-shops.
E-SUCCESS
The most successful e-commerce platforms focus on expanding market reach at a reasonable cost. Improving the quality/level of customer care and products will help create a social currency that is important in building a long-lasting brand.
Market diversification, internet penetration and improved payment gateways have changed the e-commerce landscape in the Kenya region. Globalization and digitization have exposed people to a lot of options and the bar keeps on getting raised.
Delivery is also a key point for many people who shop online. Creating a sustainable logistics solution by using third parties like “Sendy”, can help in consolidating the share market as convince is one of the key drivers of e-commerce.
Tools Required in achieving E-Commerce Success
Good Copy- Marketing for e-commerce takes on the same format as you would any other product. “Good copy and accompanying image”. By copy, we mean easily readable, precise but most importantly captivating captions that will get consumers interested in viewing your product or service.
Product Details– It is important, that you clearly give out the availability or any terms and conditions associated with the said product.
Paid Advertising- can help your e-commerce grow in leaps and bounds as the sales are made online at the comfort of one’s device of choice.
SEO – is also an important factor because of organic search. Most people would directly put in a specific search query on Google and it would really help if your store popped up on the first page and above the competition.
So, there you have it if you are looking for the digital agency in Kenya to help you with your e-commerce digital marketing efforts, feel free to give us a shout and we will gladly deliver the best digital solutions for your business.
