KBL launches new e-commerce marketplace to grow online sales
Kerago Ngugi - Head of emerging channels KBL, Brandon Wekesa Boda Boda operator and joel kamau - head of commercial EABL at the launch of E- commerce platform Thebar.com at Tamarind hotel. The digital platform is set to be a marketplace to meet customers' demand for quick, easy, and convenient shopping.
Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) has launched a cutting-edge direct-to-consumer digital marketplace to meet customers’ demand for quick, easy, and convenient shopping.
KBL’s thebar.com is matches the global Diageo online platform ‘the bar’ (https://www.thebar.com/ en-gb) following a successful test in the Kenyan market following Covid-19. It replaces Party Central, the company’s popular platform that helped alcoholic beverage consumers order KBL’s products online.
The upgraded platform connects online consumers to KBL’s products from mainstream distributors, supermarkets, stockists, and key retailers, making it the first-of-a-kind of its scale in Kenya.
Through the site, customers will have access to well-priced, high-quality products directly from the breweries and distilleries where they are produced, personalized activations, special offers and tiered packages offers suited to their needs. The site is age-gated.
It’s part of KBL’s accelerated digital strategy to reach new audiences and enhance sales and profitability – reflecting changes in buying behaviour and increasing e-commerce awareness as a result of Covid-19.
KBL Managing Director Joseph Musunga said: “This innovation will not only help us extend the gains we made recently with Party Central in helping our consumers access our products when they need to but also leveraging technology to adopt to new consumer trends in the way we socialise in and outside of the home. By inspiring, educating, and ensuring that they have access to everything in our portfolio, we are embarking on a new journey with our customers.”
KBL Commercial Director, Joel Kamau: Our resellers will receive a free additional route to reach their customers across the country, access to all of our brands’ items, and a one-of-a-kind opportunity to showcase their businesses using TheBar’s marketplace positioning opportunities.”
Kenya’s beverage shopping is predicted to be driven by the growth of mobile internet use, an increase in smartphone usage, led by a young population, and the expansion of on-demand deliveries particularly through motorcycles (boda-boda) as the last-mile option.
Kenyans account for a sizeable number of mobile money accounts and payment solutions in Africa. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the number of newly registered motorcycles climbed by 16.2% from 2019 to 2020, securing the last mile delivery industry.
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