Selling online is hard in Zimbabwe: Over 52% of the population are not your customers

Selling goods and services online in Zimbabwe is tricky but some intrepid entrepreneurs are pulling it off to one degree or another… How well it is going depends on what they are selling, the channel(s) they are using, the nature of supply and demand for the product and how ancillary it is to a nation that is suffering from what appears to be a never-ending cycle of economic turmoil…

The first instalment of this series looked at the nature of internet connectivity and why the pool is extremely small because of how expensive it is to connect to the World Wide Web.

Provisionally, the conclusion that many have come to is that selling goods and services locally requires you to have a social media first approach. Trying to launch a website is a fool's errand and there are very few people who can afford to spend more for internet access with social media and WhatsApp bundles being a no-brainer...

Understanding where to find your customer is one thing, however, comprehending who among the archetype you have built can afford it, is something else entirely.