Kilimall gives shoppers an option to buy goods overseas

Online retailer, Kilimall, has unveiled a service that enables customers to buy products from different markets across the world that would not previously ship to Kenya.

Through the Global Shopping icon on its portal, customers in Kenya can make orders for items in foreign territories. Kilimall will source them from pre-qualified merchants then deliver directly to clients.

Kilimall international operations director, Victor Ma, on Thursday said the new service will provide more variety for Kenyan shoppers, especially those in business, and save them the cost and inconvenience of travelling to those markets.

“There is growing demand for various products from different markets and through global shopping, we hope to tap the growing demand for global products from Kenya’s burgeoning middle class both for home use and resale,” said Mr Ma.

He was speaking in Nairobi during the launch. He said that it will take an average of 25 days to deliver products at a cost of between Sh250 and Sh400.

READ: Kilimall eyes Africa market with expansion into Uganda and Nigeria

Global online malls like Washington-headquartered Amazon and China-based Ali Express offer free shipping for low-valued items such as phone cases that can be shipped to Kenya but would take about a month to arrive.

High-valued items such as designer watches and gold-plated phones do not ordinarily ship to markets outside their zones, disadvantaging willing buyers.

The product categories on offer under Kilimall’s global shopping range from fashion, electronics, home and lifestyle products.

Mr Ma said that the platform will save customers money and freight charges.

With the rising craze of Black Friday shoppers in Kenya, the traffic of buyers is set to boom as the late November to December festival period approaches-- when consumers spend more on fashion and household goods.