Peri-urban Nairobi to pay Carrefour more for deliveries

What you need to know:

French retailer Carrefour has introduced three zones including Nairobi, its peri-urban, and upcountry.
Same-day delivery for the first zone has been set at Sh2,320 while next day delivery has been fixed at Sh1,160.
Zone two attracts the highest charge at Sh2,900 for same-day delivery while next day delivery costs Sh1,740.

French retailer Carrefour has crafted a delivery network targeting consumers in the growing middle class, which will see residents of Nairobi’s satellite towns like Ruiru and Kitengela pay the highest price at Sh2,900.

The retailer, which opened its first outlet at the Karen Hub, and has booked space at Centum’s Runda-based Two Rivers mall, introduced three zones including Nairobi, its peri-urban, and upcountry.

Zone one and two which are Nairobi and its environs offer the option of same day and next day delivery while the other towns in zone three only have the next day delivery option at Sh2,320. The towns include Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu and Nyeri.

Same-day delivery for the first zone has been set at Sh2,320 for the likes of Ngong, Mountain View, Imara Daima and Buru Buru while next day delivery has been fixed at Sh1,160.

Zone two — which includes Mwiki, Kitengela, Ongata Rongai, Gachie and Ruiru — attracts the highest charge at Sh2,900 for same-day delivery while next day delivery costs Sh1,740.

Most local supermarkets deliver within their locale for free within a radius of up to 10 or 20 kilometres and have additional charges for every kilometre beyond that.

The zoning model has been applied by online stores in Kenya, which have partnered with courier service providers.

In 2016 e-tailers including OLX, Jumia and Kilimall partnered with G4S, Posta and Fargo couriers to ease the delivery process.

For supermarkets, bulky goods like furniture and large home appliances are the main items that require delivery.

Supermarkets with larger branch networks use the existing delivery means to get items from one store to another, reducing the cost of delivery to the consumer.

Carrefour is seeking to tap into Kenya’s growing “malling” culture fuelled by a growing middle class which has increased disposable incomes to splurge on shopping.

Carrefour has a total of 10,105 stores in 34 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, Russia and Africa.

Its total gross sales were Sh9.7 trillion (€84.3 billion) and it posted an operating income of Sh252 billion (€2.19 billion) in the year ended December 2013.