From stalls to screens: Eastleigh traders power quiet digital revolution through social media

Once known primarily for its bustling textile and electronics markets, Eastleigh is now at the forefront of a quiet digital revolution.

From modest corner shops to multi-million-shilling wholesalers, businesses here are increasingly turning to social media to attract a broader and more diverse clientele, and it's paying off.

A joke often told about traders in some shops is that they overlook a not-so-serious customer while scrolling on their phones.

While in some instances true, a number will oftentimes be posting and responding to messages from customers and potential customers' questions on social media, where they have found a bigger pool of customers to engage beyond Nairobi, within the region and others abroad.

A spot check by The Eastleigh Voice revealed that some social media platforms are even managed abroad by their owners living outside the country; that way, they can target a global customer base through their multiple delivery and shipping options.

Social media managers

Others, however, manage their platforms or hire social media managers locally as they run their businesses from within.

Abdullahi Isaac, a secretary at Zakhan Driving School based in California, says social media has been a game changer for the school in that it has broadened their clientele base to include not just locals but also foreigners and Nairobians from different corners of town.

"When we started, we used to distribute brochures and fliers to prospective clients, which was not that effective. But that has since changed since we introduced our clients to social media around the year 2020," he recalls.

Abdullahi says the official in charge of social media for the school began by posting some classes online, mainly on YouTube, before delving into short clips on Instagram and TikTok.

"Now we have customers from everywhere, we have those from within Eastleigh, others come from as far as Embakasi and all over the place. Some even from outside the country, in the UK and Canada, courtesy of our online classes," he explains.

He believes the school's diverse training options also give it an edge that maintains its flow of clients, for they take pride in the variety of vehicles available for clients to use for their theoretical and practical training. The school now operates two branches, the main one near Deliverance Church in Eastleigh and the one manned by Abdullahi in California.

Substantial online trading

While the neighbourhood continues to experience a large inflow of visitors coming to get stock for their shops, materials for their clothing brands, curtains for their houses, perfumes and even personal items, many traders say a substantial amount of trading is also happening online.

"People used to think you had to come physically to Eastleigh to get good deals. Now, I show them new stock on TikTok and Instagram Stories, and they send money immediately," a carpets and furniture trader says.

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• Zakhan Driving School
• From stalls to screens: Eastleigh traders power quiet digital revolution through social media
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This trade has also sustained an existing courier services business in the neighbourhood, which relies upon delivering goods bought in other parts of the country and beyond.

Those that need shipping overseas are delivered using other international logistics companies with satellite offices in Nairobi.

Clothing models

Others like clothing wholesalers and beauty products' stores have gone a notch higher and hired models to market their stock on Instagram, such include Aboosto Kenya, which despite opening a shop in Nairobi less than a year ago, has become a leading skin care outlet in Nairobi and the region.

The models or influencers have helped to announce the entry of new products in the market, declare sales seasons, and demonstrate how to include some products in basic skin care routines and so forth.

The rise in social media marketing and e-commerce has also led to a demand for digital marketing skills.

Some of these skills are offered at basic, intermediate and advanced levels at the California ICT hub that is part of the government's Ajira Digital Programme that seeks to impart all young Kenyans with skills that assist them to make a dignified livelihood from the digital space.

This has helped them acquire jobs online as digital and e-commerce marketers, online freelancers, and so forth, thus helping reduce the burden of unemployed youth.

Mobile money services

The availability of mobile money services like M-Pesa further helps these businesses to thrive online as they rid both the clients and traders of the fear of having their details captured by intermediaries such as hackers online.

Reports show that rising uptake of mobile phone use and internet access may eventually lead to even more growth of e-commerce in the country.

According to Digital 2025 country reports, a total of 68.8 million cellular mobile connections were active in Kenya in early 2025, with this figure equivalent to 121 per cent of the total population.

While it states that some of these connections may only include services such as voice and SMS, and some may not include access to the internet, its data shows that there were 27.4 million individuals using the internet in Kenya at the start of 2025, when online penetration stood at 48.0 per cent.

The report further indicates that there were 15.1 million active social media user identities in Kenya in January 2025. For perspective, this figure was equivalent to 26.5 per cent of Kenya's population at the start of 2025.