How to Start an Online Store (eCommerce Business) in Kenya for 2022
There has never been a better time to start an online store than today. The Pandemic has forced many customers to seek services and goods online, leaving business owners with no choice but to go where the customers are, online. The Kenyan business landscape has taken a different turn, and any business looking to stay competitive and make a profit must embrace the new normal.
Starting an eCommerce business in Kenya will need strategic planning and getting the basics right.
Knowing where to start or which direction to take may be challenging if you are new to the online business world. In this step-by-step guide, we will help you get started by focusing on these tips:
· The Basics
· Find Wholesale Suppliers and Get Your Inventory in Place
· Hire a Website Designer to Build Your Online Store or Learn How to Design the Site Yourself
· Accept Payments via Cash on Delivery (Highly Recommended)
· Decide How You’re Going to Deliver Your Products and What Your Delivery Rates Will Be
· Use Social Media to Sell Your Products
· Handle Customer Inquiries with WhatsApp for Business
The basics
Before starting your online store in Kenya, you must get the basics right. These include:
A Business Idea
You cannot start a business without knowing what kind of business you want to carry out. This is equivalent to getting your business niche. It is choosing what to sell and deciding who your target audience is.
You need to determine what pain points you are going to solve. If that product already exists, can you offer it better? Find out what people want and what they are willing to pay for.
This step is crucial in helping you avoid spending your money and time on products that nobody will buy. To do this, you will need to conduct market research. Start your market research by picking a larger market, then narrow it down to your niche.
Narrowing down your niche will help you know which products to focus on.
Name Your Store and Get a Domain
Domain registration and selecting a website host are some of the most important steps to starting an eCommerce business in Kenya. To do this, you must choose a name for your business. The name should be unique and not in use by any other business.
A domain name is the name of your business’ website. It is how people will call your business when looking for it online. Choosing the right business domain name takes thought and consideration.
Your business domain name should be simple, short, and catchy. A memorable domain name will ensure that a potential customer can fully internalize it, remember, and refer it to friends through a conversation, text, or email. This is a key factor in ensuring the success of your eCommerce business in Kenya.
Avoid busy and distracting things when choosing a domain name, such as abbreviations, numbers, double meanings, hyphens, and so on. It should be easy to spell and type.
When a potential customer can pronounce your domain name easily, your business will grow rapidly due to word-of-mouth marketing. Ensure that the business name identifies and conveys your business’s goals.
Once you get the right name for your business, it’s time to register your domain name. You will need to choose your name extension from top-level domains like .com, .co.ke, .biz, .org, .net, .brand, among others.
I normally use and highly recommend Hostpoa. Hostpoa is a reputable web hosting company in Kenya that offers various hosting options to cater to the needs of its varied customers. Whether you are a small solopreneur just starting out or an established enterprise with thousands of customers doesn't matter.
Hostpoa has just the right web hosting option for you. You can get hosting from as little as Ksh. 3,480 per year.
A Logo
A logo has a major effect on how your customers will perceive your brand. Therefore, it should be outstanding, right from designing your brand identity to making the right design choices. When designing a logo for your online store in Kenya, think about your audience.
Put yourself in their shoes and think like them. You can even check out your competitors’ logos for inspiration. However, your design style should be unique and tailored to mirror your brand. To make a good logo, you can involve a logo designer, to ensure that it has captured all the details involved in creating a logo.
Find Wholesale Suppliers and Get Your Inventory in Place
You will need to research the best wholesalers for the type of goods or services you want to sell. If you are starting an online store for the very first time, ensure that you choose goods or services that are marketable and in demand. Once you determine what to offer, it’s time to look for a supplier.
To get the most profits out of your offering, it is advisable that you get your goods or services from wholesalers. The best wholesale supplier for your business should be able to offer all the products your business needs and offer prices you can afford. It should also serve your geographic region, and be reliable, trustworthy, and easy to work with.
In Kenya, we have both local and international suppliers.
Local Suppliers
Some local suppliers include Shamborina enterprises. You can call them at 0715 607 076, and they will add you to a wholesale WhatsApp group. This makes it easier for you to make orders and give them directions to your store where they can deliver the goods.
Elkay Solutions- Elkay Solutions are local wholesalers that offer general supplies.
International Suppliers
There’s an option to import from US, UK, Dubai, Turkey & China. China is the most preferable, and you can import products from the comfort of your home without paying for a flight ticket or worrying about KRA tax stuff. If you’re interested in importing goods from china, I have a 60-page book explaining it in detail.
Hire a Website Designer to Build Your Online Store, or Learn How to Design the Site Yourself
Once everything is in place, it is time to build your online store. One of the first choices you will need to make is whether to do it yourself or hire a professional. Although this would not have been a question long ago because hiring a professional was the only way to go, things have changed.
This has been made possible by the availability of online tools like website builders, which have allowed nontechies to build decent websites.
Building your own online store is affordable, and the templates are quickly available. You are also aware of the end result, like the appearance of your website and the colors. To build an online store yourself, you must select the best eCommerce platform for your needs.
Each one of them has its pros and cons. Therefore, ensure that you understand them to make the right choice. Some top eCommerce sites include Shopify, BigCommerce, Squarespace, WooCommerce, and Wix Commerce.
Once you have built your eCommerce store, it’s time to add your products. Ensure that you have clean product photographs for your store. You can shoot these yourself or get nice images from free stock photos.
Add product descriptions by describing each product you put on the website. You should know who you are speaking to and highlight the incentives here. Make your text easy to scan and make your customers see themselves using your products.
Set your price list for all your products.
Hiring a website designer is advisable if you feel overwhelmed by all these steps. It will make work easier and give you time to focus on other business matters.
Accept Payments via Cash on Delivery (Highly Recommended)
Once your business is up and running, decide on the payment options for your customers. Although the online payment option is quite well-developed in Kenya, most Kenyans prefer the Cash on Delivery method. They will want to pay once the goods are delivered to them.
This is because unscrupulous businessmen have taken advantage of Kenyans and received cash before delivery, only for them to fail to deliver altogether or deliver what was not ordered.
Decide How You’re Going to Deliver Your Products and What Your Delivery Rates Will Be
Customers will expect you to deliver their goods at home or where you will agree. This means you have to decide how you will charge for the delivery. You can charge the actual amount, a flat rate, offer free delivery, or any combination thereof.
Your company will absorb flat rate overages and free delivery. Chances are, you’ll add that to the cost of your product. It’s a delicate balance, so you may have to do some testing and make adjustments accordingly.
Use Social Media to Sell Your Products
Your online store in Kenya will not sell unless people know it exists. This means that you have to get it where the people are. Social media is one of the most powerful places to get customers.
Choose the most relevant channel for your products to get the best results. Instagram is the best channel to use if your products are mostly visual. If you sell products mostly to a very young audience, choose Facebook. YouTube is for all age groups.
To succeed in selling your products or services on social media, you must create the right content at the right volume. Always ensure that your content is visual. Build your network and connect it back to your business.
Handle Customer Inquiries with WhatsApp for Business
WhatsApp is a great platform to include in your social media strategy. WhatsApp Business can help you connect with your customers and support them with immediate and personalized customer service. WhatsApp Business is an app easily downloadable from App Store or Google Play, depending on your phone’s software.
WhatsApp for business contains tools that make it easy for you to sell through it. When creating your profile, you must include a catalog of your products or services to help your customers easily see what you offer. Each product or service should include a title, price, description, product code, and link to the product on your website.
You can upload a maximum of 500 products or services, and each one should include an image.
WhatsApp for Business will help you handle customer queries faster and easier. Customers can message you directly on your phone, which will help you respond quickly. Whataspp for Business saves answers to the most commonly asked questions as templates and sets up shortcuts.
This saves you the time you would have used typing out the answers to repeating questions. And your customers will get their questions answered faster.
There is the option for labels that help you to organize and categorize users and messages. This will help you sort messages by urgency and recognize returning customers. You can use pre-programmed labels or create new ones that make sense for your business.
It is, therefore, good to add a WhatsApp chat button to your website and all other social media channels. You can even include it in your email signature if you send newsletters to your customers.
Build Your Team
When It Comes Time to Build Your Team, Hire the Following Staff Whenever Possible
Stock Manager
A stock manager is a person who oversees the inventory of an organization. They track and monitor inventory and develop processes to maximize efficiency. This person will create the inventory plans, organize distribution, and negotiate new contracts with suppliers.
Customer Support
A customer support professional communicates with customers and clients via telephone, social media, face-to-face, or email regarding your services or products. Their work is to address customer issues and resolve them in a timely and efficient manner.
Website Manager
A website manager will oversee its functionality, manage its performance, facilitate hosting and server management, and maintain and update the website content. He/she will monitor, assess, and report on website performance. He will also handle online marketing projects ranging from SEO to social media marketing.
Social Media Manager
A social media manager monitors, filters, contribute to and guides the social media presence of a business, product, or brand. This person may perform duties such as blogging, creating social media profiles, managing regular posts, and responding to followers. A social media manager will help you establish a conversion strategy by learning your followers’ pain points and concerns and addressing them.
They will offer suggestions on how to convert fans into buying customers.
Accountant
An accountant is responsible for keeping and interpreting financial records. This person will ensure the accuracy of financial documents and their compliance with relevant laws and regulations. They are also responsible for preparing and maintaining important financial reports.
He will also prepare tax returns and ensure that taxes are paid properly and on time. They will conduct forecasting and risk analysis assessments.
Increase Your Chances of Success
The success of your online store in Kenya depends on many factors like the ease of navigation of your website, pricing, marketing strategy, quality of your products, and ease of transaction, among others. Ensure that you create value for your customers to increase your chances of repeat customers, hence a successful business.
