By Any Nairobian knows that for the best quality meat, City Market along Muindi Mbingu Street is the place to go. Kenyatta market laughs desperately.
We also know that going to the CBD is not a bed of roses. Well, what if we told you, you never have to visit the place? What if you could just order any kind of meat straight from your office or home? Now it’s possible.
The Online Butchery
The world of e-commerce is certainly not what we would have imagined ten years ago. Yes, initially, internet penetration wasn’t that good in the country and we were just used to going to local stores to get anything basically. Delivery services were unheard of, especially in a country and capital where it’s really hard to trust anyone.
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Well, this was something pretty much the same when it came to the food industry. But now with the platforms available, it is really interesting to see how Kenyans are particularly adapting to just ordering food they do not see and expect to have the best options delivered at their doorsteps.
So we’ve heard of delivery of already prepared food and we are already all used to it by now (despite the huge charges). But hearing about this new trend in the meat industry was quite interesting for us to go look it up.
Eric Muthui, a meat vendor based in City market, has adapted to the changing times. This is with the implementation of online delivery for Kamundia Butchery. He extends operations beyond just the physical location.
“I had the idea to have an online site where customers can call and order meat. It doesn’t matter the kind and amount of meat they want.” says Mr. Muthui.
His success benefits off of the increased use of social media that other vendors take advantage of to satisfy their clients. Speaking to Gadgets Africa, Eric confirms that the 2-year old online curve has been quite successful for the business.
“Orders come from everywhere even out of Nairobi and you are guaranteed minimum delivery time of two hours.”
Online delivery services demand a lot of clear information. This is required so as to make sure the client gets everything they wanted and as they wanted it. Clearly, this has not been a problem for Eric considering the positives so far.
“You would think that with all the various types of meats, one would have a hard time. It’s not been smooth sailing but I’m not complaining.”
The service owes hugely to the website that Eric has set up for the butchery. We tried the site just to see how it functions. The general interface is self-explanatory and easy to use. So far so good.
You are offered the option of choosing whatever kind of meat you want. Furthermore, you get to just click a contacts button for either calling directly or through WhatsApp.
“Usiniwekee Mifupa”
The elephant that no one seems to want to address though is why anyone would want to order meat online, expect it to be delivered on time and get exactly what you wanted.
“Usiniwekee mafuta na mifupa” is usually the order of the day in almost every butcher’s shop. So with the knowledge of how choosy Kenyans are when it comes to their choice of meats, why is the online business seemingly as successful as it is?
Deep down, you have to admit that no matter the control you might want to have over your food or anything you have, it’s all a matter of trust.
After all, the butcher will want to have the best chicken, mutton or beef delivered seeing as they will need you the next day or week to order again.
But of course, to convince you enough, they have to give off a good impression. This starts from the basis of how their online sites look like. If I saw a so-called site that was laggy and not well-designed, my chances of purchasing from there will be minimal if not zero.
Kamundia as an example is one we would say has an impressive site for a butchery. It may not be the dream website that you would see for every other kind of business but it’s one that gives off a good first impression.
The same goes for the likes of NyamaTamu and Herdy’s. They may be sort of different in terms of design, which is obviously inevitable but you cannot ignore the urge to appreciate the effort.
They are all detailed in terms of listing as many kinds of meats as possible. Secondly, they also make them as easy as possible for the user to readily contact the shops for any order they wish. You will find each option with a button that directs you to the contacts if you wish to text or call directly.
The future, of course, seems bright for this uptake if Kenyans start noticing it and are willing to trust the butchers enough. That does not mean there will not be wrangles along the way but that cannot mean that we live in fear of what modern technology has to offer.
With all this in mind, the question stands as to whether this progress shows promise for online butcheries. Some of the other ones actually include:
There are challenges that have been disclosed by similar business people when it comes to online services. This includes an instance when a customer refuses to pay for the ordered product upfront.
“Others may even complain that what they received was not what they ordered for, making any future transactions with them a bit difficult,” admits Eric.
But so far, it is nothing but optimism for the service. As much as the internet has been a cause of worry for many, it might just prove to be more of a necessity rather than a luxury or nuisance.
Would you trust this service? Convenience comes at a cost some times. Are you ready to take the risk?
[…] Credits to GadgetsAfrica […]