An Insight into Online Shopping in Kenya

The current world is fast transforming. Technology has not been the key engine behind this transformation. As a matter of fact technology has greatly impacted the way people do their online shopping in Kenya.

With the proliferation of electronic devices the number of online population in Kenya has increased tremendously.

The following are some the technology developments that has influenced online shopping activities in Kenya.

Reasons for the tremendous increase in online shopping in Kenya 

 Proliferation of electronic gadgets

There has been an out-pour of a wide range of electronic devices in the country. They range from mobile phones to tablets, desktop and laptop computers. As a matter of fact mobiles phones have become popular as they are now considered a basic necessity for every individual and in every household. With a mobile phone, one can be able to access a variety of goods and services online without necessarily paying a physical visit to the seller.

The availability of cheap laptop computers and tablets are also to a greater extent contributing this growth in online shopping. With a laptop computer that has access to the internet, one would be able to search for goods and services easily online.

Availability of cheap internet connection in the country

The internet has become affordable in Kenya today. There are many international and local companies that are competing in this space thereby making the internet access costs easier for consumers and businesses. This coupled with the proliferation of cheap computing gadgets has tremendously affected online shopping in Kenya.

Online payment mechanisms

We are talking of technologies like mpesa and airtel money. These gateways greatly made it convenient for Kenyan people to pay for goods and services online. Besides, Internet service providers have partnered with local banks to provide cashless fare payment system. Although this idea did not pick up as expected, it is a positive indicator that Kenya is making strides in technology that is to a great extent influencing the whole concept of online shopping.

It would be wise to anticipate that by the year 2030 Kenya is going to be a completely paperless economy.

Social media platforms

Social media platforms have been mushrooming in the past decade. There are a wide range of platforms that have been developed in this space. These include facebook, linkedin, twwiter and youtube just to mention but a few. They are the major social networking sites at present. lot of people rely on facebook for example to look for goods and services online. Companies take this as an advantage and advertise their goods and services targeting potential customers on these platforms.

Consumers as a result turn to these channels in pursuit items of their interest. The channels attract a high number of subscribers per single day and therefore contributing the growth of online shopping activities in the country.

 Search Engines

Search engines play an important role in online shopping in general. People type in keywords depending on what they are looking for online and they return relevant results based on the search query.It is the most convenient way for consumers looking for goods and services online as search engines provide those results based on your current location. Businesses have turned to these platforms to advertise their goods and services with a small fee.

Online classifieds E-commerce Websites

Classifieds platforms have been on the rising trend in Kenya. The impact on online shopping by these developments is immense. People upload pictures of products they want to sell for example at the comfort of their homes. This owes to the fact that there is a huge number of consumers looking for these products and services on the same platform thereby making them popular for online shopping in Kenya.

It is therefore clear to say that online shopping in Kenya ison the rise. People are currently turning on the internet to look out for goods and services.