Rwanda e-retailer for women products sets up in Kenya

Rwanda-based e-commerce firm Kasha has entered the Kenyan market, offering health, personal care and beauty products targeting women.

Through the Kasha platform, customers can order pharmaceuticals, contraceptives, HIV self-test kits and sanitary products, among others.

The firm will then partner with logistics firms such as Sendy and Tez Logistics to deliver the products on a motorbike.

Kasha has so far received funding from institutional investors VestedWorld, SUNU Capital, The Case for Her and Partners Group as well as grants for subsidising pricing for youth in certain areas from partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

For express delivery within an hour of order, a fee of Ksh300 ($3) is charged. For same day delivery, the cost is Ksh200 ($3) and for next day delivery, the cost will be around Ksh100 ($1) after the launch offer.

Kasha has so far moved 10,000 units of products, averaging two units per order.

In Rwanda, where it has been in operation for nearly three years, the company has delivered 100,000 units via the platform.

Kasha joins other actors in the market such as MyDawa, Naivas Supermarkets, Jumia, Masoko and Posta that have made moves to cash in on the promising e-commerce market in Kenya.

Kenya has 2.6 million online shoppers, coming third in Africa after Nigeria and South Africa, according to 2018 data from United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Kasha procures the fast-moving consumer goods directly from the manufacturers and stores them in its warehouses until customers order them.

For pharmaceuticals, the firm works with chemists to pick items upon order.

Kasha gets its revenues from product margins and delivery fees. Additionally, businesses sometimes pay Kasha in cases where they market certain products on their platform.