Small businesses struggling with meeting rent payments now have the option of moving their stocks online, setting up a quick and easy professional e-commerce store on the Goby App.

It’s a simple customizable e-commerce service that requires no technical knowledge of computer coding to build a bubbling online presence.

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Goby App is set to be the new marketplace for small businesses from greengrocers, to boutiques and bookshops by eliminating barriers like building websites and the exorbitant costs of marketing.

You just have to download the application and sign up for a store. It’s as simple as opening the doors to your shop in downtown Nairobi.

For display, the business only needs to take a photo of the product and label it with a short description and price, then wait for customers to start placing those orders.

Buying and selling on Goby is done directly between the business and its customers with the option of cash on delivery or mobile money transfers.

The application is currently operational for Kenyan and Tanzanian businesses on a 30-day free trial before paying an online rent of only Sh300 a month. This means that with less than Ksh 4000 an entire year’s rent is sorted.

The coronavirus pandemic has opened up the eyes of Kenyans that they can no longer rely on one stream of income after several people lost jobs or were hit by painful pay cuts that they hardly prepared for.

Some merchants have turned to selling groceries out of car boots along busy roads since accessing shops needs initial capital investments as well as several licenses.

This has presented the opportunity to shift to online, although many young entrepreneurs are not familiar with building stable websites. They have often relied on social media which is jammed with clanky content burying business in layers and distracting crucial sales messages.

Dedicated business platforms such as Goby have now moved in to offer a new phase for online merchandising especially as Kenyans observe stay at home orders and restriction of movement and physical shops limit the number of customers.