MallforAfrica is an interesting marketplace because rather than selling product it makes it possible for African consumers to shop the world, even if retailers don’t normally ship to Africa.
The way it works is that once on the MallforAfrica website you select which retailer you want to shop from – any of 120 stores from Amazon in the UK to Macy’s in the US. This takes you to the retailers website but with a tool bar from MallforAfrica at the top of your browser.
Now you simply stop, add items to your shopping cart and then when you’re ready to check out, rather than using the retailer’s checkout, you use the checkout on the MallforAfrica tool bar. MallforAfrica then complete your purchase and arrange for the products to be onward shipped to Africa for delivery to your door or the pick up location you’ve selected.
MallforAfrica launched for customers in Kenya
MallforAfrica first launched in Nigeria as a way for Africans to purchase from retailers who typically wouldn’t ship to that country. As many Africans only access the Internet via mobile, naturally there’s a mobile app for the site and in July this year they launched in Kenya.
PayPal $10 discount for MallforAfrica
PayPal is the latest addition to the site, with MallforAfrica and PayPal offering a US$10 discount for first time users. All that’s required is to enter the coupon code “PayPal10” at checkout and the discount will be applied.
Sell on MallforAfrica
This all sounds great for Africans – they can buy from many UK and US retailers. What we want to know, apart of course from the news that there are a billion Africans wanting to spend money, is how do we get our products available to buy through MallforAfrica?
If you’re interested in having your webstore included then initially all you need to do is email [email protected]. Whilst MallforAfrica are likely to be more interested in partnering with large websites, if you believe that the product on your website are of keen interest to Africans it may well be a worthwhile exercise regardless of the size of your business.
