Traders leverage e-commerce to boost Valentine’s Day sales
By Story Agencies, February 14, 2022TECHNOLOGY: Downtown Nairobi was a burst of the classic red colour yesterday as traders strewed their wares on every available space, eager to profit from Valentine’s Day sales.
However, Mercy Mwende, a long-time florist, confessed that she would not be selling her wares from the streets and for the second year in a row, online.
“Before moving to the digital space last year, I sold from my store in Nairobi’s Westlands district. When the health crisis came upon us, the importance of an online presence became apparent,” she said. Mwende spoke to Xinhua as she selected bundles upon bundles of red roses and carnations from City Market, the single largest source of flowers for Nairobi residents. A quarter of her stock has been preordered by her online clients.
Loved ones
The rest will be sold from a temporary stand in the city together with her physical store. Customarily, Valentine’s Day attracts vendors eager to sell endearing items to those committed to honouring their loved ones on this special day.
And this year is no different; perhaps more striking is how much the online marketplace is teeming with these niche traders.
The giant Chinese e-commerce platform Kilimall has, for instance, been running Valentine’s Day sales since the start of the month, offering between 50 to 70 per cent discounts on a selected range of products. Similarly, online market entities such as Jumia, Jambo, and Jiji have comparable discounted items.
Furthermore, it is not just multinational platforms that traders are utilising, social media sites are proving indispensable in creating visibility and making sales.
“Generally on such a day, a single stem of red rose will go for about Sh200 (about $1.75) while a bouquet ranges between $13.19 and $30.79. I charge an additional fee for deliveries depending on the recipient’s destination,” said the florist.
Shopped online
In 2020, 16 million Kenyans shopped online and spent $1.1 billion, according to country assessment by datareportal. Similarly, e-commerce development across sub-Sahara Africa registered a 42 per cent growth from 2019 to 2020.
The growth is poised to rise further as the world becomes increasingly digitised. Kenya was listed among the top three leading contributors of digital commerce in the report produced by Visa.