Kenya has witnessed exceptional growth in internet penetration, which now sees it sitting on top of the tree for mobile money usage.

The popularity of M-Pesa, in particular, has spurred e-commerce growth in Kenya, making the country one of the most eco-commerce-friendly markets in Africa.

But it's not all roses.

When people think of e-commerce in Kenya, they are quick to make comparisons with the likes of Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, and Aliexpress. They think of:

Free shipping

Same day delivery

Free returns.

In truth, African online retailers are far from offering these, making such comparisons misguiding. Poor infrastructure, unstable internet connectivity, product quality and payment security concerns, and supply chain challenges mean e-commerce in Kenya is not a bed of roses.

Kenya has made great strides in creating a conducive environment for e-commerce, helped in large part by a vibrant mobile payments infrastructure. Still, the country faces many of the other challenges its peers on the continent face.

1. Turning shoppers into paying customers.

Imagine driving hundreds of visitors to your online shop without recording enough sales to keep the business afloat. Unfortunately, that is the perennial struggle of young e-commerce businesses.

Traffic alone does not equal sales. Converting that traffic into paying customers requires work. Most times, the reason visitors on e-commerce websites don't convert has nothing to do with price. It has more to do with the following:

hard-to-follow navigation,

poorly optimised product pages,

complex checkout processes.

If visitors find it hard to navigate your e-commerce website, they will struggle to find the products they are looking for and will leave without buying. The same is true for complicated checkout processes.

If visitors are not converting into paying customers, take a step back and investigate why. Dip into your analytics and learn how people are finding your website.

Are the bulk of your visitors coming from Google? Which searches are bringing them? How many of them are navigating deeper into your website and making purchases? Consider re-optimising your landing pages if the searches bringing people to your site have commercial intent.