How traders in Eastleigh are leveraging e-commerce to boost earnings

Before the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020, Mohammed Hussein, a real estate developer, had never once imagined using digital platforms to look for clients.

“I did not trust such platforms back then, but now things have changed,” Mohammed says.

However, he had to embrace change because many of his clients operate online and are from the Diaspora.

These customers find it easier to compare different properties by checking listings online.

“Having a digital presence has become like a way to boost your credibility as a business. I use technologies such as virtual tours to make sales more interactive,” says Mohammed.

To connect with clients and manage feedback from customers either through voice calls or social media messages, Hussein uses a unified communications software known as Freshchat.

The solution, designed by IT company Jasco Communications, integrates feedback from various social media platforms like Facebook or WhatsApp into one software, enabling

businesses to respond quickly to queries.

The software is configured to respond to the most frequently asked questions such that even on weekends or public holidays when people are not working, and maybe a customer has a

complaint or request, it can respond.

“If it gets to a point where the chatbot cannot deal with the issue, it is directed to an agent in the office, who can pick it up from there. This saves me the cost of hiring several agents,”

says Mohammed.

Work efficiency

Like Mohammed, many traders in Eastleigh are leveraging digital products and services to boost their earnings, as well as to improve work efficiency.

“Some of the big real estate companies like Safaricom Investment Cooperative are paying influencers who have a big following on Facebook and TikTok millions to recommend their

properties in Eastleigh because they know their endorsement resonates deeply with their followers,” says Maube Hassan, an IT specialist.

The Eastleigh's vibrant streets at night. (Photo: Abdirahman Khalif)

Maube says small retailers who never had an online presence are now starting to ask questions about how they can expand their operations into the digital space.

It is why in the year 2021, he opted to leverage his digital skills to create an e-commerce platform known as Eastleigh.io.

After the Covid-19 pandemic struck, customers reduced their movements into Eastleigh to avoid contracting the virus.

As a result, business activities were greatly affected and many traders had no choice but to close down their shops to avoid incurring further losses.

Maube wanted to switch this dynamic, by enabling businesses to sell and purchase goods online.

Businesses could go to the platform, select the goods they would like to purchase, pay for them and have them delivered to their destination.

The platform would also come in as a convenient way for shoppers looking to avoid the traffic situation in Eastleigh to get what they wanted.

“We have so many people coming into Eastleigh every day but packing is a challenge. So, a customer figures that if they are able to shop online, then they don’t have to deal with the traffic and parking menace,” says Mohammed.

Transport costs

By partnering with the EMS postal service to do deliveries of goods to other destinations, the platform provides shoppers from other parts of the region such as Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda

and DRC with a convenient way to shop in bulk.

“Many shoppers come to Eastleigh from other countries and spend a lot of money on transport, food, accommodation and other expenses. Some of these shoppers are now

leveraging e-commerce to help cut down on transport costs,” says Mohammed.

Shoppers along Eastleigh's Yusuf Haji Road (First Avenue) (Photo: Abdirahman Khalif)

When Mohammed was launching Eastleigh.io, Mark Kiarie, a former architect, and Kevin Kuria, a former visualization artist, quit their well-paying jobs to launch a digital product known as

Chpter for merchants.

The techpreneurs would target SMEs in Eastleigh which needed loan facilities from financial institutions to remain in operation but found it difficult to access the loans because

they had no documented financial records.

Any business that signed up for the product would get their customised website, where customers could order and pay for products. Service-based businesses could send invoices to

customers through the platform.

When these businesses made or received payments online, they would create a pay slip, which they could reveal to the bank to prove that they are commercially viable and so can be

counted on to pay back the loan.

Mark Kiarie and Kevin Kuria the co-founders of Chpter.

“SMEs are especially under-served when it comes to finance. A business can for example apply for a loan in January but because they lack data that the bank needs, they will get the loan in April.

But with so many arrears by that time, the company would have closed shop,” says Kiarie, co-founder of Chpter.

In recent times, Eastleigh has emerged as an area of opportunity for online retailing, with several businesses now using e-commerce platforms to promote their products and services.

In a report that was released recently by e-commerce platform Jumia, Eastleigh was identified as one of the areas in Nairobi with the largest number of online purchases.

Beauty products are some of the most ordered items, accounting for 16 per cent of all deliveries, followed closely by home items such as television sets, furniture, video or audio players, mobile phones and clothes.

“People still want to feel the product, but with technology such as virtual reality becoming more mainstream in online shopping experiences, we could have another major disruptor,”

says Ashmi Shah, retail portfolio manager at Knight Frank Kenya.

Retail Portfolio Manager at Knight Frank Kenya Ashmi Shah.

She notes that businesses with a large portion of their sales coming from online orders are now using their shops as showrooms or storage facilities for their online operations. Others are stocking up their apartments, and then delivering on demand.

“We have some women who prepare products such as curtains and other textiles in their houses, then deliver to their customers in other parts of Nairobi like South B and Westlands,” notes Shah.

Shah says there is huge potential for e-commerce in Eastleigh. However, factors such as poor road networks, poor supply chain networks, inefficient delivery services, lack of properly

named streets, cyber security concerns and a preference for cash over mobile money payments are acting as a major barrier.

“If you look at the dynamics of business in Eastleigh, the areas that have really picked are retail, real estate and transport, but if you look at technology, tech companies are yet to invest

in marketing because even services like M-Pesa do not perform too well,” says Shah.