If you want to establish a successful e-commerce business, you have to focus on fast moving goods that will generate steady profits.
Not every product will sell successfully online, particularly in a developing e-commerce market like Kenya. Discover the top 10 fastest-moving things to sell online in Kenya.
Every Kenyan with an entrepreneurial itch will eventually contemplate launching an online business. What things to offer online is a decision that many aspiring e-commerce businesses agonize over, while others stall.
You’d think that the abundance of things available for sale online would make it easier to decide what to sell in your online business. However, the more options available, the more difficult it is to make a decision.
However, as you will discover while reading this post, if your primary criteria for what to sell online is how quickly an item moves, the task is not difficult.
This post will give you a method for selecting hot-selling things to sell online in Kenya. Even better, we’ll unveil seven product categories that are already selling well online.
Let’s get started.
Choosing what to Sell Online
Though the Kenyan e-commerce business is very young, it is active and rapidly expanding, therefore there is likely already a merchant selling the things you intend to sell online.
The benefit of not being the first to market is that you may research existing merchants to see which products sell quickly, which are more profitable, and which are not a good fit for selling online.
In Kenya, we have the advantage of having a marketplace as one of the major e-commerce firms. Jumia has thousands of product lines in practically every category you can think of.
To evaluate which things are likely to sell well online, start with Jumia’s bestsellers.
Fast-Moving goods to sell online in Kenya
1. Makeup products
Women will always want to look their best, regardless of the weather or the economy. Women’s makeup goods are an evergreen retail area, whether you believe it is because women are generally concerned about their appearance and are willing to spend money to improve it, appear more appealing, or feel seductive.
It’s no wonder that Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Maybelline NY, and Chanel are among the world’s most valuable brands. Some of the fastest-selling beauty items you can offer online are:
Skin foundation
Spot-masking gels and creams,
Lash extensions
Eyeliners.
2. Makeup tools
A product category in its own right but one that will make a great addition to an online store for cosmetics products, makeup tools are selling well online in Kenya. Makeup brushes, eyeliner pens, mascara, lipstick pencils, and eyebrow shapers are product options under the makeup tools category.
3. Cellphone accessories
According to the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK), there are 26 million users of smartphones in Kenya. While that points to a huge smartphone market, the real money for a savvy e-commerce entrepreneur is in cellphone accessories.
While many people are prepared to prioritise a new, giant smartphone over ‘more important expenditures’, the majority don’t buy a new phone frequently enough to make them the main product in your online store.
Many telcos also sell handsets and mobile SIM subscriptions as packaged contract deals, which makes them hard to compete against. Accessories, on the other hand, are fair game. They don’t require as much capital and are bought more frequently because they are low-priced.
Accessories also come in a wide variety, meaning you will have more items to sell and not bet your business on a few items. Evergreen cellphone accessories include:
Phone cases,
Screen protectors,
Power banks,
Wireless chargers,
Earbuds
Generic Stereo F9 Bluetooth Earphone Power Headset listing on Jumia
One of the most popular smartphone accessories in Kenya right now is Bluetooth earphone power headsets. They are also selling very well on Jumia.
4. Flatscreen TV sets
TV sets are an evergreen retail product category. As well as a bed, stove, and fridge, a TV set is a priority purchase for every young person leaving the parents’ nest. And, of course, the picture quality is best on a flatscreen TV.
Smart TVs are another growing category that is worth adding to your online store, as is this accessory that is commonly bought together with flatscreen TVs:
5. Flat TV wall panel holders
The portable nature of flatscreen TVs means you can place them on a traditional stand or hang them on the wall. And if you want to hang your TV on the wall, you will need a wall hanger or mount, which most flatscreen TVs don’t come with.
Because hanging your flatscreen TV on the wall saves floor space and means you can avoid the expense of a TV stand, wall mounts are one of the fastest-moving items on the Jumia marketplace.
TV mounts income in different designs and functionalities, including wall bracket holders, tilt-moving wall mounts, and full-motion swivel brackets. So you will have a good variety of stock in your store.
6. Small kitchen appliances
Stoves, dishwashers, and fridges are all evergreen product categories that may sell well online, but they require significant investments, which means they may not sell at the rate a small online store may need to thrive.
Consumers also typically prefer to buy larger appliances from big-box brick ‘n mortar stores. Smaller online stores will find smaller kitchen appliances to be a better fit. These don’t cost as much money, so you will sell more of them.
Kenya also has a growing middle class, with young professionals that have a taste for the finer things. This group of consumers is savvy and short on time, so they are keen to kit their kitchens with the fanciest appliances that reduce meal preparation time.
Some small kitchen appliances to consider for your online store are:
Electric fruit mixers and blenders
Air fryers, which are very popular right now,
Slow cookers,
Coffee makers, and
Microwave ovens.
The growing popularity of air fryers has also seen a market emerging for air fryer paper, which you will have to stock as it is usually bought together with air fryers.
7. Alcoholic Drinks
We are not quite a tipsy nation, but Kenyans love their alcohol. With the highest alcohol consumption statistics in East Africa, Kenya’s alcoholic spirits sales are expected to tip the USD 980 million mark in 2023.
If the number of online stores that sell premium alcoholic spirits and beverages that all seem to be doing well, it appears that Kenya’s emerging middle class has quite a discerning taste for alcohol. This marks premium alcoholic spirits such as Scotch whiskeys, gins, and cognacs as fast-moving items that sell well online in Kenya.
If you are too sober to consider running an online liquor store, this next product category may appeal to you:
8. Clothing
Clothing isn’t one of those items you would expect to sell well online, as people generally want to try clothing items before buying. But clothes do sell well online in Kenya. A survey by Statistica revealed that clothing was the third most common online purchase in Kenya in 2022.
A broad product category that you may target as a whole or pick and focus on a specific sub-category like children’s wear, women’s wear, or men’s wear, clothes will always have a market. What will change are tastes and styles, which is why this niche fits someone with some experience selling clothes.
9. Footwear
The Statistica survey we referenced above placed shoes as Kenya’s fourth most common online purchase in 2022. Of course, just like clothes, there will always be a demand for shoes, whether dress shoes for work, athletic shoes for sports, or school shoes.
School shoes, in particular, sell well on Jumia. That’s unsurprising as every parent will be glad to avoid the back-to-school season’s retail chaos and traffic congestion. You have no such hassles when buying online.
10. Underwear
Underwear is one of those products some people wish they could shop anonymously, which makes it a great fit to sell online. No wonder it is one of the fastest-selling items on Jumia.
Men’s boxers are a fast seller on Jumia. But, of course, ladies’ underwear is a huge market offering options for a large catalogue.
What I like most about underwear is that it is one of the few purchases people generally accept cannot be returned. Returns and refunds are an eternal challenge in e-commerce, so a product that can’t be returned once bought is a dream.
Read also Top online shopping websites in Kenya
Conclusion: Fast Moving Goods to Sell Online in Kenya
Whether you are just starting out or have been in the e-commerce business, these valuable insights that can help you start by making good sales or boost your sales all together.
Pick the goods which you are comfortable selling. Conduct a thorough research to find out where you can source the items at a good price that will generate profits once the orders start coming in.
