Bata Shoe Company Kenya unveils online shop

Bata Shoe Company Kenya unveils online shop
Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
, 30 Aug 2012
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Kenya's leading footwear manufacturer and retailer Bata Shoe Company, has unveiled an e-commerce website www.batakenya.com where customers can select shoes, pay online and have their purchases delivered to their home or offices.

The shoe company has partnered with payment gateway provider Pesapal to enable the online payments.

Bata, which has more than 100 physical stores across the country, hopes to make it easier for its customers to make purchases without visiting the stores.

The e-commerce website is also targeted at Kenyans living in the Diaspora, by making it possible for them to buy Bata shoes for their families back home. The Bata online catalogue contains shoes for ladies, men and kids.

Bata will deliver a maximum of 3 pairs of shoes for a 300 shillings ($3.50) charge per order. Orders worth 1, 799 shillings ($21.50) and above will however be shipped for free.

“With the system, we want to help our consumers shop smart by saving on time, and fare that they use to visit our physical outlets. Technology has brought about several efficiencies in the country, we would like to leverage on it to offer consumers efficiencies and savings,” Bata Kenya managing director Nasir Rafique told the Standard newspaper.

The shoes can be delivered in five selected major towns across Kenya within three days.

Logistics firm Aramex Kenya Ltd has been tasked with making the deliveries in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret and Nakuru. Plans are however underway to begin deliveries in other parts of the country and abroad.

The fast growing access to the internet in Kenya has inspired the creation of various online payment gateways as companies seek to expand their reach across the country as well as tap the Diaspora market. The Communications Commission of Kenya statistics indicate that internet subscribers stood at 13.65 million users as at December 31, 2011.

One of the challenges that e-commerce in the country faces however, is the lack of addresses in majority of homes across the country, thus making home deliveries difficult. The Government recently formed a steering committee to create addresses to homes within Nairobi so as to push the adoption of e-commerce in the capital city.

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