STORY: Kenyans embrace live-streaming online shopping
DATELINE: Sept. 23, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:35
LOCATION: Nairobi
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Dickson Nganga walking into a warehouse
2. various of Kilimall staff working inside the warehouse
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): DICKSON NGANGA, Marketing supervisor of Kilimall
4. various of Dickson Nganga in live-streaming room
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): DICKSON NGANGA, Marketing supervisor of Kilimall
6. various of Dickson Nganga in live-streaming room
7. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): DICKSON NGANGA, Marketing supervisor of Kilimall
8. various of Kilimall staff working inside the warehouse
9. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): DICKSON NGANGA, Marketing supervisor of Kilimall
10. various of Kilimall staff working inside the warehouse

STORYLINE:

Kilimall is a major e-commerce platform in East Africa, owned by a company based in Changsha, China.

With about five million consumers, this Chinese-based platform has launched live shopping, changing the way many Kenyans shop online, while also providing more employment opportunities for many local young people.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): DICKSON NGANGA, Marketing supervisor of Kilimall
"My name is Dickson Nganga. I serve as a supervisor in the brand and marketing department.
I've worked here for two and a half years now. My role is actually to oversee the strategic and development plans and make sure that our brand message is communicated effectively and also gives us meaningful results.
So 90 percent of our products are actually from China and then 10 percent are from the local market. That is Kenya."

According to Nganga, there are over 21,000 different categories and half a million products in their warehouse. So when it comes to the items that are actually selling well, it depends on the different campaigns that sellers hold online.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): DICKSON NGANGA, Marketing supervisor of Kilimall
"So when it comes to our livestream, we actually started the first live show we did in 2021 which is on Facebook. And then we transitioned to TikTok in 2022, where we started with two viewers watching, but apparently, we have grown and we have diverse different strategies."

Now, Nganga and his team can hold a total of ten thousand people watching their live shows every time. They usually have one person behind the camera and another person trying to answer comments. Besides, two hosts and a team will prepare the links and the products before going live.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): DICKSON NGANGA, Marketing supervisor of Kilimall
"Yeah, so we get a chance to communicate with our clients, our customers online. They will ask us questions. We'll show them the products and also have the interacting moments with the customers."

Nganga stressed that live selling is actually an effective way of selling products for both sellers and customers, and he is very satisfied with this job.

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): DICKSON NGANGA, Marketing supervisor of Kilimall
"So what this job means to me, it has actually helped me to pay my bills and of course gain new experience when it comes to communication, when it comes to selling products. And also it has given me the exposure that is online. I can actually interact with different people and even sometimes people will engage me as a person to try and show them or tell them how to improve on their way of selling online."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nairobi.
(XHTV)