Tuesday, NOVEMBER 8th, 2016 – Leading online shopping mall Kilimall has
put in place major plans for the annual Black Friday shopping festival, making the
annual sale such a big deal in its drive to grow market share in Kenya.
Speaking at a pre-warm launch today in Nairobi, Kilimall management said they
have prepared to offer up to 70% discount for shoppers on Black Friday, which
this year will be officially marked on November 25th under a campaigndubbed
#ItsABigDeal .
Black Friday is the most important shopping season of the year during which
most retailers slash prices and run huge offers and giveaways. “We have signed
deals with different manufacturers who have agreed to offer major price cuts on
various categories of products on our website,” said Victor Ma, operations
director, Kilimall International.
The partners include local shoe marker Bata, smartphone markers Samsung,
Infinix, Tecno and Cubot as well as leading electronic firms Sayona, LG Philips,
Sony, Skyworth, HotPoint and Skymax Electronics. Manufacturers have already
confirmed HERO Deals (huge discounts) on their products include smartphone
makers Infinix and Tecno as well as Skyworth TV. Talks are at advanced stages
with more manufacturers ahead of the Black Friday.
Victor said Kilimall will stretch the shopping festival over five days to allow
Kenyans more time to buy products at discounted rates. The Kilimall Black Friday
sale begins on 21st November with bronze and silver deals of up to 50%
discounts and climaxes with gold deals that will attract up to 70% discounts on
“aspirational items usually unreachable for most customers.”
With over 50,000 items on offer in its various categories of electronics, fashion
and home & living, KIlimall retailer is looking to better sales for last year when it
sold 450,000 items in a single day, translating to five products per second. “We
have expanded our warehouse and human resource capacity to handle
increased traffic during the Black Friday sale,” he said.
Kilimall has sweetened the huge discounts with various offers including free gifts
and other big wins for shoppers, including smart TVs, phones and vouchers. The
products on offer during the Black Friday offers include smartphones, TVs,
household items and fashion brands such as clothes and shoes.
The top seller during the Black Friday campaign will get a fully paid five-day trip
to Kilimall headquarters in Shanghai, china, while top five sellers will walk away
with Ksh150,000 each.
AT THE SAME TIME, Kilimall launched an affiliate marketing programme,
opening up new business opportunities for website owners and social media
influencers who will earn commissions.
The Cost Per Sale (CPS) system is being rolled out in Kenya for online
publishers and social media enthusiasts seeking to monetize traffic to their
websites and is expected to create jobs for over 100,000 Kenyans.
Also known as pay-per- sale or PPS, CPS is an online advertisement pricing
system where the publisher or website owner is paid on the basis of the number
of sales that are directly generated by an advertisement.
Kilimall Operations Director Victor Ma says under the partnership, websites and
social media users will be given a unique code to enable them display Kilimall
banner adverts or links on their websites or social media pages. Any activity
through the link is tracked and a sale conversion earns a commission.
“When you register, a unique code and an account are generated to monitor
clicks and sales and earnings,” said Victor during the launch of the CPS
programme. “Account activity can be tracked in real-time.”
He said the CPS model will be a win-win partnership as website owners,
bloggers and social media enthusiasts who will earn from it depending on their
traffic, which will in turn drive sales for online shop. He said many websites and
bloggers have huge traffic but are unable to attract advertising from corporates
and other organisations.
“This will create a new generation of entrepreneurs who can work full time on
their websites to convert more sales and earn more,” Victor says. “Signing up to
the partnership is absolutely free and we expect many website owners to take up
this opportunity.”