KENYA- Retail chain Quickmart has revealed plans to enter the e-commerce space in September with the launch of Q Soko, its new digital marketplace.
Quickmart revealed it intends to use the platform to serve the middle class who want a convenient home shopping experience.
The retail chain revealed it is looking to serve a million customers every month through Q Soko.
Betty Wamaitha, Quickmart’s Chief Marketing Officer, said, “Right now as Quickmart we are serving an average of 5 million customers every month we will be looking to serve at least 20 per cent of these on the e-commerce.”
This reflects the growth of ecommerce in Kenya since the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, it was estimated that 9.3 per cent of Kenyans were shopping for food and groceries online as of 2023, which is now projected to rise to 16.7 per cent by 2027, which translates to 10.5 million consumers.
Analysts have viewed the move as the retail chain’s plan to leverage the potential of the e-commerce market.
According to a study by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK), revenue from the Kenyan ecommerce market is expected to grow at a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.15% and is expected to reach a market volume of KES 26.9 billion (US$208.2 million) by 2027.
The report also called on the government to put in place explicit regulations governing ecommerce. She hailed the existing legislations passed in the recent past including the Data Protection Act, of 2019 and the Copyright Amendment Act, of 2019.
The report acknowledges despite these legislative changes, there still exists significant regulatory and information gaps on ecommerce platforms operate across the digital platform value chain.
Quickmart will collaborate with delivery platforms to make Q Soko a success. It seeks to mirror the success of platforms like Glovo, Jumia, Yum Deliveries and Uber Eats as well as other retail chains like Carrefour, all of which have recorded some level of success in the ecommerce sector.
Wamaitha added, “We have partnered with the likes of Glovo and Uber eats to serve our customers more conveniently, so in the next phase of Quickmart you will see us in a big way getting into the e commerce.”
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