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What Does It Cost To Create an Online Shop In Kenya?

a kenyan woman setting up an online shop on her laptop

Umekuwa ukidream of starting your own online shop in kenya?

Labda unauza parts na accessories za magari, beauty products ama nguo. Before uanze, utabenefit kujua itakucost doh ngapi.

E-commerce Kenya ni sector huge na wasee wengi wanaexpect itaendelea tu kugrow. So sio suprising many of us tunataka kuget in on the action pia. In that case, place poa kustart ni kujua budget yako inkaa aje na risk unataka kutake.

Uko na budget ndogo na huna experience na online store? Yako ni ujenge online shop on an existing platform.

Kama uko na doh hivi, na experience, kuunda a custom site itakupea more flexibility ya kucreate online shop unique inameet all your needs.

Option 1: Jenga Online Shop On an Existing Platform

Kuunda online shop on existing platforms kama Instagram na FB ni njia affordable na effective ya biz kufikia wateja wengi na kupata online sales. Hii option pia inaweza kuwa poa kupima interest yako before kuwekelea doh yako kujenga kitu custom.

Pros na Cons za Hii Option ni Gani?

PROS

Ni rahisi sana kustart

Huhitaji doh kuanza

Huhitaji maprofessionals kukusaidia. Unaifanya yote mwenyewe

FB na IG ziko na wasee wengi already so macustomers ni wengi

CONS

SIo kitu unique for your customers

Huwezi customize kwa needs zako za biz

Platforms zingine hutaka kukanjwa kutoka sales zako

Inabidi ufwate sheria za platform- hii inaweza affect unauza nini, unauzia nani na kurestrict biz yako

🤔 How Do You Set Up A Facebook or Instagram Shop

Step 1 - Fungua Facebook Business Page.

IG na FB zimeshikana, na ni kampuni moja so utahitaji Facebook shop ili kuenable shop ya Instagram.

Enda facebook.com/pages/create ufwate prompts na ujaze info inahitajika kuset up your page. Utaprovide info ya biz kama business name, category or type of products unauza na contact details.

Step 2 - Set Up Facebook Shop

Kutoka FB page yako, sasa enda kwa "Shop" section. Follow prompts hapo to set up your Facebook Shop. Hii ni products zako zenye unauza. Tumia picha poa na quality ili kuattract customers, descriptions fiti na bei. Ukitaka kujua njia ya kumake picha poa na quality soma article yetu ya how to take good product photography How to take good photos of ...

Step 3 - Set Up Instagram Shop

First thing utafanya ni kuconvert account yako ya IG to a biz account. Utapta hii option from profile yako 👉🏽 settings 👉🏽 utapata option ya ‘switch to professional account’ 👉🏽chagua ‘business profile’

Hii setting ita kuallow kumake connect between shop ya FB na shop ya IG.

Ukipata approval, sasa unaweza tag picha zako IG na products unauza na zile categories umeweka kwa shop.

Opportunity banner image

Pale IG uko na a dedicated shop section kwa profile yako mahali cusstomers wanaweza ona products zako zote. Unaweza make hii shop as unique as you want na picha zako, na descriptions to enhance shopping experience ya wateja.

Manage Orders

Msee akiclick on product zako kutoka kwa feed ama explore page, anaweza ona more information na kumake decision na kubuy hiyo product ama akuulize swali. Kukeep customers wako happy, make sure unaangalia orders ziki come through na kujibu maswali za customers wako.

Promote Online Shop Yako

Kupata more customers, unda posts, stories na reels creative na engaging zikionyeshana products zako na biz. Pia tumia hashtags relevant na pia unaweza fanya collabo na biz zingine kujulikana na more people.

Option 2: Jenga Custom Online Shop

Pros na Cons za Hii Option ni Gani?

Pros

Unaweza create a unique look different na wasee wengine

Unaweza customise your online shop to mahitaji za biz yako specifically

Uko na full ownership ya online shop yako na vile unafanya biz

Cons

Hii option inahitaji doh mob kuanza

Utahitaji msee pro wa kudesign websites kukusaidia kujenga online shop

Utahitaji time more before uanze biz online

Online shop ni yako, kwa hivyo costs za kurun na kuimaintain ni zako pia

🤔 How Can You Do It?

Online Shop Yenyewe

Ile kitu major utahitaji ni website na online shop yenyewe. Depending na size na function unahitaji zitadetermine doh utahitaji kulipa. Hapa hakuna shortcut- utatapata quality inaambatana na budget yako.

Kama uko na skills za tech, unaweza jiundia online shop yako na platforms kama Wix, na Wordpress. But wengi wetu itabidi tumetafuta pro ameiva hizi vitu. Professional website developer anaweza kulipisha anywhere kutoka 100k kuendelea.

Domain Name

Hii ni address ya online shop yako. Itakuwa in the format www.yourwebsitenamel.com/.ke /.co.ke /.biz

Hii ni cost utakuwa unalipa kila mwaka na unaweza ipata between KES 850 and KES 3,400 kulingana na Sasahost. Hii bei itakuwa different na kampuni tofauti in Kenya kama KENIC, Host Africa, Webhost and Host Poa. Unaweza tumia international companies like Godaddy, Host Gator or BlueHost but utahitaji credit card ama online payment system kama paypal. Advantage ya kampuni za kenya ni that unaweza lipa na Mpesa.

Kwa biz, the best domain kpata ni a ‘.com’ domain juu wasee mob bado huchagua .com kama default wakitafuta vitu online.

Hosting

Hii ni another recurring cost between KES 3,250 to KES 11,000 kila mwaka according to Sasahost. Unahitaji hosting because without it, online shop yako haitakuwa online, watu hawataiona na hawawezi nunua products zako.

Considerations hapa ni:

  1. Storage ya kuhold files zako kama images, videos, etc.

  2. Bandwidth ya website visitors na activities wanachukua

  3. Performance na uptime- yaani reliability ya online shop yako kupatikana kila siku

  4. Security na ability ya kuweka information ya customers wako safe

Kupata Doh Yako 💸

So uko na online shop yako, iko online na umeweka products zako na wasee wanaweza zinunua. Watakulipa aje, na utapata ae doh yajo.

Njia popular na biz za kenya ni lipa na M-Pesa, na hii sio any different online. Unaweza tumia API kuconnect lipa na mpesa kwa website yako ili kupea customers a quick and safe way kukununulia. Developer wako atakusaidia kuset it up after kupata credentials from safaricom. Utahitaji Paybill ama Till number za kuidentify biz yako na kupata doh zako.

Ni Costs Gani Zingine Zinaweza Kupata?

Inventory

Inventory yako ni another main part ya vitu unahitaji kuconsider ukiunda online shop. Kuna options kadhaa unaweza consider.

Option one ni drop shipping. Hii ni a cool option juu huhitaji kubuy stock mob ama kuworry about storage ama kudeliver orders kwa customers.Customer akinunua kitu, unatumia supplier wako hiyo order na details za customer alafu supplier ndiye anashughulikia delivery. Disadvantage ya hii option ni ati huna any control over vitu kama packaging ama quality ya delivery. Pia, supplier kama hana stock, customers wanaweza jam ata kama makosa sio yako.

Option ya pili ni kujiwekea stock yako. Hii inakupea control over biz yote na delivery. Downside ni lazima utoe doh ya kununua hiyo stock na place unaiweka.

Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping ni principle ya biz zote na si different kwa online shop ama biz online. Kuwa successful utahitaji kujua na kurecord fincancial transactions zako zote. Mahali doh inaingia, mahali unatumia doh na cots zako. Kama we si guru wa hizi stuff, unaweza bonga na accountant kukusaidia kutack pesa zako za biz. Pia atakuwa important kuhakikisha unapay ushuru na hukimbizani na KRA 😉

Marketing

Lastly, kuwa successful na online shop unahitaji kuwa na wasee wengi wanaivisit na kuangalia vitu unauza. Some of these people ndio watanunua products zako. Kuvitia customers, unaweza jimarket for free na posts on social media kama Instagram, TikTok na Facebook. Kama uko na budget, unaweza tafuta graphic designer auunde posts za biz, appearnance poa ya online shop na logo. Pia unaweza lipia ads za kujimarket FB, IG ama google kuattract more people.

This training course was designed and supported by Strive Community, a global philanthropic initiative developed by Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and Caribou Digital.

The last several articles, we have broken down a alot about personal branding and what it could do for your business. Here are the most important points from each article to take home.

Kwa biz siku hizi, ni muhimu kuwa na strong online presence kujitambulisha to your customers.