 Welcome back to Why In The Morning and if it's Tuesday, it matters pertaining entrepreneurship at Y2-54 Channel is where you can find us across all our social media handles that Michelle Ashira is where you can find me across all my socials. So I say that as you are a trader or running a business that your clientele is the best platform so to actually learn if you're doing well in business. So today we're looking at choosing the right platform when it comes to matters pertaining e-commerce. Today I'm joined by Priskila Anjanga. Priskila Anjanga, she is the manager at Global Shoppers. Thank you very much for creating time to be with us Priskila. Thank you. How have you been? I've been good. How is your money coming along? You're Tuesday. Wow Michelle. Yeah, today is Tuesday. Oh yes. Yeah, it was a good morning. I can say it was okay, there was no traffic when I was coming. It was all good. Alright. So Priskila, how did you find yourself in the space of e-commerce? At the beginning I used to ship items and I had a shop in Kasarani but it didn't do well, it didn't do well because of COVID and I decided to think of doing something else. So I came to think of how I can, instead of buying bulk things, I bring them to Kenya and then I'm left with dead stock. So I decided it's good if I can have a website where people can come and search one item, maybe two items, what they want and then in the end I'll not have anything left. Okay. Yeah. How did Global Shoppers come by? When after I finished with the first business I decided to create the website. I have put different shops on the website, there's Max and Spencer, there's Argos, there's IKEA, there's eBay, there's Amazon, I have so many shops in the website. So all what you need to do is to just go and search. If you want to buy Max and Spencer items, you go and click. We have a phone number. If you want to item which is not on those websites, you can call us or email us and we can be able to get stuff for you because we can shop for anybody who is in UK, I mean in Kenya, from UK. All right. You know, the first time I got introduced to Global Shoppers, it's from, I think it was in Asia, just getting for people in Asia, but this time around, this one is from the UK. So how did you link up with the company? Well, our one is called UK Global Shoppers because we want to be global. We are helping our clients to buy things in China, so we can get shoppers, like if you want a shopper, we can get you a shopper who will help you to buy items in China. So we are trying to be global. So our one is called UK Global Shopper. All right. Yeah. Okay. So for someone who is from the other end that they have particular products and they want to market with you guys also just to increase on their sales, is there an opportunity of the sort? At the moment, we haven't started there, but we are thinking of starting something which will help people like we want to start like a car boat where people will come, they can park their cars, they can sell their items like if you have instead of selling online, you can sell the items in the car boat and people will be coming to buy them like we have so many people in that place and it can be like twice in a week, not every day. So if you have a small business or you want to sell your items, you just go to the car boat. We want to create like a marketplace where people will come and buy other people's items and in that way we can also talk to those people on how they can, we can get their items from China or from UK. Okay. So when it comes to, you've mentioned a couple of sections when it comes to the website, if I'm coming to buy anything from that particular platform. So what are these sort of products or services that you're offering in this particular website as a potential client? Like for example, we have Max and Spencer. What does that entail? It has clothes. For example, if you want to buy men clothes, shoes, shirts, they have very nice clothes and most of the people who are in Kenya, they like Max and Spencer items. You'll find that we have a shop in Ruiru Bypass. We have those items. We are selling them. We sell them, but at the same time, we want to show people what we have and what they can get. So we have Max and Spencer items. We have clerks. If you buy a clerk shoe, we have the clerk website. It is there on the website. So if you want to buy a clerk shoe, it is there. It is expensive, but it stays for long. You'll wear it like a year and then you'll put it aside. Then after three years, you come and get it because they are very durable. And for one who wants to start like or build an online store, what does that look like? If you want to build an online store, which we haven't thought about it, at least you have told me, which I can look into. It could be if somebody can be encouraged to do their own thing like they can do it on Facebook at the beginning and maybe they can create their own website. But the way you have said that I haven't started it, I can look into it. Probably maybe after three months, you'll find we have it on our website. All right, so you're waiting for that? Yes. Of course, so how can I, like if so, for, okay, I was about to go and ask for someone who's going to start an online store and you guys maybe just host them on the space of opportunity for them to also put their products and how to customize them. But you guys have said you've not done that yet. We haven't done it yet, but I'll look into it. Okay, so in this particular platform, how do you like maintain or rather take your customer service? Because there's no one-on-one interaction. Yeah, at the beginning it was very difficult, especially with COVID-19. So we started this year, we are not that old. We started this year and because of COVID-19, it was at the beginning, it was very difficult to get clients. But now, because people are getting vaccines and people now have come to know what COVID is, things are getting better. We have buyers, like we have people from churches who are buying keyboards. We help them search. Like, for example, somebody will go in their website, go to eBay or maybe Amazon. They will search for the keyboard because the website is there. And then when we talk to them, we can get it cheaper for them in the same eBay because when you go to eBay, you find there are so many people who are selling. Some of them they sell expensive and it is the same item. So when you keep going checking, you will find there are people who are also selling cheaper. So we support them and we help them. And they trust us because we have one customer who bought a keyboard and we were able to deliver it in five days from UK. Okay, speaking about delivery, so how should a client determine the shipping cost of everything? Because I'm in Kenya, I want my keyboard, for instance, from UK. Yeah, so after you have searched your keyboard or whatever item you want, we take you through the journey of what you want and then you get the item you want. We normally ship it, you pay on kilos, like 1kg. It is from up to 1kg. Even if your item is less than 1kg, you have to pay from 1kg. So 1kg, we charge 9 pounds and 20 pounds handling charges here. Okay, and for someone who wants to get into this form of business, probably start an online shop and do anything like that. What would you, when it comes to like, how do you create the best product, image and description? Because at the end of the day, for potential clients and the other end, they don't get to touch, they don't get to, you know, just relate to the product that you're selling. So how do you actually like create best image and description of the product that you're selling? You have to be true to your clients because if you say something is like, this is going to be durable, it can stay for months. You have to make sure that your clients will trust you. So you have to give up the description of your item. Like if it is cotton, you have to say it is 90% or 30% cotton. You have to say what it is in the item. So that the person who is buying knows what it is. For example, some people may go and buy things online. They don't check on the description. So it is very essential for customers or the clients to check on what they are buying and also to check on other website to see what the description is. And I'm so wondering, how do you guys actually deal with the returns? And has there been crises over returns? The moment I haven't had any returns, but because me, I was born in Kenya, it is very, I have people, I have connection with the people from the airport. If something wants to be returned, it's going to be very easy for me to return it from UK to, if it came from Amazon, I'll be able to return it to Amazon. And Amazon are very quick. You just put the days away, you go to the website, you take your item, they give you, there is a paper, it will generate a paper, you put it on your item and you return it and they return your money. Yeah, it's very easy. And when it comes to tracking the level of your success, when it comes to, like how you guys are doing in business, how do you go about that? Ideally, we, like for example, if you want to buy your item, you have to check on how many days is going to be delivered in our office in UK. So for example, if you buy an item, if it is delivered, it will say like three days. So it will come to our office in the UK after three days. So after three days, if it comes on Thursday, your items are going to delay. So it is good if they can come like Wednesday because if they come on Wednesday, on Thursday, they are shipped to Kenya. So it will take like seven days, five to seven days. Okay, all right, all right. And I'd like to also know the marketing strategy that you guys use so that you can, you know, reach out to also guys who also want to shop with you guys. We have Facebook and also we have the website. We have leaflets, we have cards. We go to events and we have a table and we talk about our UK global shopper. And people get excited because, you know, like me, I was born in Kenya. I know Kenyans and I would like them to have this idea of going online to buy items because if I'm most of the people, they go to the shops. If you go online, there are varieties of items which you can buy and they are cheap. So I would like them to have that idea of going online and buying. And like Facebook, people put items on Facebook and some of them are fake. They need to know like you can go, for example, go on the reviews and check whether this person sold me this. Was it good? That way you'll be able to buy a good item. But if you don't check the reviews, you'll not be able to know what you're doing or what you're buying. You might buy something which is not what you wanted. When it comes to sales, as Kenyans, have we really embraced the aspect of just purchasing things online? Considering people always feel on the issue of protection or, you know, the information as your customers. Because there's also the issue of cybersecurity. So how do you guys handle that? Well, like now, I'm still young in the business. I know about the cybersecurity. But how do you intend to handle the issue? For the sake of also the person who's watching and wanting to get into the encomass state? Yeah, like our website is maintained. So you have to keep maintaining your website so that it's not hacked. And also you're not like you don't go through those because you can be hacked. And then somebody else is selling items or is doing the same thing. But the money is being sent to another person and it's not you. So it is maintained. We have somebody who is maintaining our website and it is well looked after. Okay, yeah. I would like you to take us through what it looks like from your perspective. Consider that you run the e-commerce platform. So the people you like collaborate with, the sellers, the different brands that you work with. For instance, you told me this was sausage pillows. Yeah, we got different types of pillows. It depends on the size you ask. And also we can design for you. Even if you want to put your face there, we can design it for you. Like for example, we have this one. Somebody told us they want this design. So we had to create a design which has the eyebrows and all this. And when you're buying, you can buy like different style. So yeah, so this one is called a sausage pillow. Like the ones, I don't know whether you have air. You have to say the size you want when you create or when you want to buy something. So we can also change, we can make you big ones. It depends on the size you want. So when you're buying items from us or you are shopping from us, we can be able to talk to our shopper and they can be able to get the design or the style you want. Okay, Praskilla, the question was now, like for these guys, how did you like connect to them and know that whatever they come to you with that this is what we do is legit? It's very difficult to get to know the person. At the beginning, there is a time I went online and I bought items. And if you find somebody telling you to put money in the bank, for example, put money in my bank, don't do that. It's better to put money on the paper because if you lose your money, you will get it back. But if you put it, somebody tells you to put money in the bank, you're going to lose your money because at the beginning, that's what I did. I was buying items and the person sent me the samples which I bought them very expensive. And then after that, I sent, and the person told me to send money in the bank and that I lost my money. So it's good to put your money on paper or so that if you claim and ask for your money, you'll get your money back. So you have to be very careful. What are the benefits of running an app? Just opening an online store? It's because when somebody shop with you, you can, if you deliver the item, maybe even they can open when you're there. Like us, we can deliver the items to you and then you can open and if you see the item is not what you wanted, it can be returned and then you get your full amount. So I don't know about other online business, what they do. Maybe if, for example, the item that they don't want, maybe they don't return them, but in our case, we can be able to get the item and return for you and you'll be paid the full amount. Along this, in this particular space, couple of challenges that you face along the way? At the moment, the challenge is getting the clients. We have, we are building up clients and the trust with our clients. And at the moment, we are doing very well because you can see like now the shops are opening. Even in UK, the shops are opening. So before we had challenge and at the moment, we don't have many clients. We are still having clients asking questions. We have people who are buying from our website. They go to Max & Spencer and we have items ready for them. If, for example, you want to buy something from Max & Spencer, we have items from Max & Spencer. So it won't take long. You can come to our shop and see what we have. So the challenge which we have is we are still looking for more clients. Although we have many people who are coming forward and it is very positive. I mean, it comes to someone who wants to run e-commerce. Do you guys run 24, 7 or is there like a time frame? It's from 7 to 8, yeah. Okay. There's another issue when it comes to online shopping. I don't know how you will probably give a different angle on this one. Like if you are shopping online, you tend to do more impulse buy because it's just on your phone. You'll be like, this one, this one, this one, this one. So what is your take on that? And I think people also shy away from online shopping because it's easy access and your card is close by. It's linked, just shop, shop, shop. And then you put it up? Yeah, the people who have, there's also people who have issue with that impulse buy. So what is your take when it comes to just handling that? By handling when they come to paying. When it comes to shopping online? I didn't get your question. Okay, so we see, like if you and I were to go to maybe a physical little store, right? Yeah. There are people who tend to buy, who are impulse buyers. So what they opt to do is just have a list of this is what I'm just going to get. If I'm going to a supermarket, this is the only thing that I'm going to get. And this is how much I'm going to spend. So when it comes to online shopping, most people feel like, cause it's so easy to access. So it's on my phone, I'll just scroll and I'll be like looking and I'll be looking. Oh, nice duvet, get them. Go over, look at nice dress, get them. Nice shoes, get them, get them. At the end of the day, you'll spend a lot. So what's your take on impulse buying when it comes to online shopping? Yeah, those that we have people who are shopaholic, they just want to buy. Exactly. Yeah, they just, you find the eyelashes here, I'm going to buy that. Oh, nice gel, they'll buy that. They buy so many things. I think you have to check on your budget, like you're getting paid maybe for example, 30,000. You have to check on your budget. You have to make sure you want to buy the right thing for that time. Don't buy something which you want to keep for tomorrow. Just buy something which you're going to work with it within that time. Yeah. Okay, now what are a couple of financial lessons that you've learned along the way? Say it again please. Couple of financial lessons that you've learned along the way. Well, I have learned like you have to plan before you do something. So you have, for example, you have money with you and you want to start something. First of all, you have to search and know what you're doing, what is happening in this business, what is happening in this. You have to then start planning and it is good not to use all your money because if the business fails, you've lost all your money. So it is good to start at the beginning with less money and then you start building. Like when I started this business, I have started with like very little money and then you can see I'm having clients who are coming, they pay and I'm getting money and I have started building and I can feel is getting better. What was the initial capital? It was 100,000. And what did that cater for? It catered for the samples we have for the companies like Max and Spencer. And also those samples, we have loads and we are buying them cheap. We have a company which is called John Pie. When you say samples, what does that exactly mean? Like for example, we have coats like for Max and Spencer. We have shoes from Clarks. They are samples, but we have others if you find the sample is good, you can buy it. So we have all those samples ready. And if you want, you can buy, it's not gonna take long. You can come in our shop, you can see them touch and then you can buy, although they are a bit expensive because they come from companies which are, they're like designer shops. All right. And okay, so what would you say for someone who runs a physical shop or business? What would you tell them in terms of e-commerce? Is it really needed for your business? I think it is. For example, like when you talk about e-commerce it's like something like we have a big market online. Online, yeah. At the beginning, the market I have, it may look big because they have so many websites on it, but it's not big for me because I'm gonna be handling one customer at a time when they buy items from different shops. There is something else I haven't put on my website. Like, we have people like in, who sell second hand clothes, they sometimes they don't know where to get items from and we have a lot of second hand clothes in UK and to help other people build up their business if they can join themselves like into groups of 10, 10 or maybe five, they can have a 20 foot container which I can ship for them and it's gonna be very cheap than going to Gikomba and buying a bale. So if you can buy like, for example, you say, okay, I can afford to buy 10 bale or maybe I can afford to buy five bale. If you like, you are like 10 people or 20 people or those people who sell second hand clothes I can be able to ship for them. And what would be the huge difference between just getting a bale, because in the Gikomba and coming together as 10 people and reaching out to you to get maybe a container? Like, I've been to Gikomba, I have bought bale in Gikomba and when you go and buy a bale in Gikomba what you get there, you go at a loss. But for example, me myself, I'll be able to buy them good things which are from UK and I'm just shopping for them, you know? So I'm not interested in their money. I'm interested in shipping. So I'll be able to buy for them and ship for them. So when they go to Gikomba, they will buy an item for maybe 15K and when I ship for them it might be even 12K. So it will be more cheaper for them than going to Gikomba. Okay, I've always been, oh sorry, continue. So to go online when you trust somebody is good. So if people can trust me, because I have trust in other clients who have been buying things online and I have also another potential buyer who wants to buy, she has a big shop of second hand clothes so I'm still negotiating with her on how we're gonna do this. So it's going to be good for them if they can trust me. All right, so how can people find your clothes on your social media handles if they want to keep the conversation going but you're going to buy it in Gikomba? So they can go to UK Global Shopper. Sometimes it's very difficult for people to go online. We have our email on the website. We also have our phone number. Our phone number here is 0716-333-088. I will repeat. Yes. Our phone number here in Kenya is 0716-333-088. And my phone number in UK is plus 44-75-17-15-76-75. Fantastic. I'm sure guys back at home got those digits. They were really saying very slowly, you got them. Thank you very much Fiske Langega for creating time to be with us. Telling us on what is pertaining Gikombas and choosing the right platform. Thank you. So guys, we've come to the end of the show. Remember we do this again every single Monday to Friday right here on Y in the morning. Make sure you follow us on all our social media handles. That is at Y254 channel. Make sure you have a bright day, a good day. Take care of yourself and even go jabbed. Make sure you get jabbed at Misha Lashireza. You can find me on Y254 channel. We have so much of programs coming your way. Have a nice day.