The B2C industry in Kenya includes
1) Retail Shopping, supermarkets, department stores, specialty stores, convenience stores, and online stores
2) Travel & Hospitality
3) Online Food Service
4) Media and Entertainment
5) Healthcare and Wellness
6) Technology Products and Services
Deep Dive
The Kenyan retail sector displayed a stable overall performance, with the average rental yield at 7.5% in 2023, a 0.7% points increase from 6.8% recorded in 2022. According to the publisher, the B2C e-commerce market in Kenya is expected to grow by 15.25% on an annual basis to reach US$2.3 billion in 2023.
Kenya’s retail sector is still among the most attractive for long-term investors in sub-Saharan Africa with an expansion rate of 30% despite cash flow challenges that have left giants on the brink of collapse.
Critical Success Factors
-Marketing
-Brand Reputation
-Location
-Product Quality
-Customer Service
-Customer Loyalty
-Product Range
The B2C E-commerce is expected to grow steadily over the forecast period, recording a CAGR of 11.00% during 2023-2027.
The country's B2C e-commerce gross Merchandise Value will increase from US$2.0 billion in 2022 to US$3.5 billion by 2027.
Kenya B2C E-commerce Market Size and Forecast by B2C E-commerce Segments (Gross Merchandise Value Trend Analysis, 2018-2027).
-Retail Shopping (breakdown by clothing, footwear & accessories, health, beauty and personal care, food & beverage, appliances and electronics, home improvement, books, music & video, toys & hobby, auto)
-Travel and Hospitality (breakdown by air travel, train & bus, taxi service, hotels & resorts)
-Online Food Service (breakdown by aggregators, direct to consumer).
-Media and Entertainment (breakdown by streaming services, movies & events, theme parks & gaming)
-Omnichannel shopping- integrated digital and physical touchpoints, such as physical stores, websites, social media, and apps.
-Chatbots -By 2027, 25% of businesses will use them as their primary customer care tool.
Motivation
-Quality of service - wholly dependent on employee service providers.
-Employee motivation is critical for the retail industry.
The main challenges faced by wholesale and retail Inventory Management
1) Demanding Customers and Prospects
2) Increased Competition from the Manufacturers
3) Faster Delivery Demanded by the Retailers
4) Consolidation of the Supplier and Retailer -Consolidation of suppliers and retailers in a supply chain involves streamlining and optimizing the number of partners a company works with, both on the supply side (suppliers) and the demand side (retailers or distributors).
This consolidation aims to achieve various benefits, including:
-Cost reduction
-Improved efficiency
-Better relationships
-Enhanced supply chain management
Channel partners- are companies that partner with another organization to market or sell their services, products, or technologies.
The retail industry in Kenya as a business to Customer sector has a long way to go but it is showing tremendous promise.
