Kenyans troop online to shop

Marketing research firm, AC Nielsen, recently published a report on how the retail industry in Kenya is slowly shifting to online platforms.

The evolution involves a shift from brick-and-mortar (shopping as we know it) retail to e-commerce, where people buy stuff online, pay using mobile money and get items delivered to them. The researchers say this trend is set to grow following a study they conducted on behalf of online forum, OLX Kenya, to determine the value of unused household items in Kenyan homes.

Olx Country Manager Peter Ndiang’ui says over two million people visit the online market’s site every month and more than 28 per cent of shoppers in Kenya consider shopping online. He says mobile platforms and Internet is shepherding people to online market forums.

University students Dennis Kiplagat and Jeremy Mwarandu who buy and sell stuff online agree that many shoppers have now gone the online way. This has resulted in a decline in sale of second-hand items from Sh158b in 2014 to Sh115b last year.