Nipate
Forum => Kenya Discussion => Topic started by: Nefertiti on February 07, 2018, 05:22:22 PM
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Reasons undisclosed - is Masoko crashing them already? Jumia really increased ads after getting wind of Masoko.
Online ads firm OLX to shut down physical office in Kenya, Nigeria
https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/health/4258458-4295206-8te8rez/index.html (https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/corporate/health/4258458-4295206-8te8rez/index.html)
Online classifieds site OLX has confirmed plans to shut down its physical office in Kenya.
The online marketplace however said it will still offer its services in the country.
“We made a difficult but important decision in Kenya and Nigeria to consolidate our operations between some of our offices internationally,” OLX said in a statement Wednesday.
Operations in Nigeria are also going to be affected by the restructuring, it said.
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“Our marketplace will continue to operate in Kenya and Nigeria - uninterrupted - as it has since 2010,” it added.
The firm did not provide specific reasons for the move, only citing need for consolidation.
The firm is owned by OLX BV, which is registered in the Netherlands and is operational in more than 40 countries.
South Africa’s Naspers Group owns OLX BV.
READ: OLX changes tack with Sh100,000 monthly adverts
Innovation
“We remain committed to the millions of Kenyans who use our platform to buy and sell every month.
"We continue to be focused on constantly innovating to make sure that OLX remains the top classifieds platform Kenya,” Mr Ndiang'ui said.
OLX said last year electronics were the most traded items on its platform with 330,000 goods listed for sale in 2016.
Kenya’s e-commerce sector is currently dominated by brands such as Jumia, Kilimall, OLX, Pigiame, among others.
READ: Adverts on OLX to expire in two months
Last year, telecommunications firm Safaricom SCOM • 28.50 ? 3.39% established an online sales platform in a move that was expected to roil Kenya’s fast-growing e-commerce market.
READ: Safaricom’s online portal set to sign up foreign vendors - VIDEO
The platform, known as Masoko, Kiswahili for markets, is modelled after retail e-commerce giants Alibaba (Chinese) and Amazon (US).
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Too much fraud. You cannot have free ad thing in kenya. The crooks will flood with doggy ads. Premium services works. More so pre-paid or pay as you go. The systems that works in kenya or Africa has to realize fraud is MBIG. Very mbig. You need to build robust system that is trustworthy and still cheap.
So Amazon or OLX where you verify and verify and verify and verify and deal with crooks.
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Robina,
I suspect their pricing is plain stupid
(https://s18.postimg.org/7476x1iop/Screenshot_20180207-180744.png)
With such rates, I think small timers are better off ignoring it. They should be charging something like 100/- per week for prime space or something. 800/- for a mere 3 days is overkill for the small guys who form the bulk.
Pundito,
You are on to something. While Jumia pretends to fight fraud, most of their dealers sell junk that barely works. That's the leading sort of complains. Devices that fail too quickly.
I use PayPal regularly. I like it. I bought Kaspersky Internet Security for my phone. Key turned out to have been for French tablets so it failed. Seller offers me refund right away. Any time I have received anything her does not function as intended/advertised I get refunds pap!
Negroes can't get there I swear
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vooke Those rates are okay. Merchants who can't afford that are not worth it. Ads on media like Nation print or digital cost much more.
I think the thirst for merchandise lowers the standard for quality and integrity. There ought to be collateral (down payment) equal to 3x the average sale of a merchant. They can borrow the M-pesa agent standard. Proper vetting, deposits, formal certification as an online trader. This way a genuine complaint can lead to consequences. There should be a "CRB" - a central reference - for online traders. They can cooperate or hang together. TRUST SYSTEM is basic. There are even phony apartments on OLX where people get conned :o
I imagine Masoko and Jumia have most of these covered. At extra cost. The two actually hold stock and do fulfillment. That's serious overhead. Classifieds are not different because they lead to exchange of goods or services. Thin margins will push out some.
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vooke Those rates are okay. Merchants who can't afford that are not worth it. Ads on media like Nation print or digital cost much more.
I think the thirst for merchandise lowers the standard for quality and integrity. There ought to be collateral (down payment) equal to 3x the average sale of a merchant. They can borrow the M-pesa agent standard. Proper vetting, deposits, formal certification as an online trader. This way a genuine complaint can lead to consequences. There should be a "CRB" - a central reference - for online traders. They can cooperate or hang together. TRUST SYSTEM is basic. There are even phony apartments on OLX where people get conned :o
I imagine Masoko and Jumia have most of these covered. At extra cost. The two actually hold stock and do fulfillment. That's serious overhead. Classifieds are not different because they lead to exchange of goods or services. Thin margins will push out some.
?OLX used to be totally free and it remained free for years. So the sudden urge to turn some profit may have faced resistance. Maybe it should have been gradual. Or they should have ?OLX Prime for paying advertisers,and OLX basic for free riders.....you know, some real differentiation
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The free ad window was meant to grow the platform. Trouble is potential buyers are turned off by so many cons, frauds, counterfeits and low quality merchandise. A vetting layer that Pundit suggests would knock off half of the merchants - but the overhead is costly. It's pointless to have a platform of bottom feeders.
For instance the landlord should have to list the apartments himself, not some agent who can be a con. He gives title deed, etc, pays a deposit and gets it back only after the buyer reports back. The platform is a guarantor not a website. The buyer details also remain on the record as well. No dark web.
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Facebook advertising and pop up shops killed this one... folks are advertising on Twitter, Whatsapp and even Telegram. No paid model will work in Kenya....