When he was in Class Six, Mwangi Kariuki begun to collect computer parts from waste disposed from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison where his father worked, intending to build his own machine, but his efforts were futile.
Fast forward, years later, the 21-year-old is a third year student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology studying a Bachelor’s degree in Business Information Technology – he also runs two businesses alongside his studies.
Mwangi is the CEO and co-founder of Kicks and heels, a footwear specific e-commerce platform.
Online shopping is increasingly on the up, and so are the most innovative apps and technologies. In a market which is largely dominated by premium fast-fashion retailers, the footwear sector is taking the e-commerce route.
Given the increasing millennial feet in the country and rising penchant for brands, Kicks and Heels merges the power of the internet and retail technology to innovate around the future of footwear retail.
Great demand comes greater responsibility to deliver, and aware that e-commerce is the present and the future, Mwangi is determined to dominate and reap big from this platform.
The ambitious youngster, who wanted to become either a pilot or doctor while growing up, is also the co-founder of Afrishade, a fashion startup which sells African fashion, specifically made-in-Kenya labels.
“We contract local tailors, having given them the design outlay of the products we want. My business partner, based in St Louis, Missouri, runs the shop,” he says.
“We provide a vast collection of shoes, close to 3,500 pairs in all sizes and give our customers the privilege to order and have their shoes delivered to any corner of the country within 48 hours, if shipping from abroad, the delivery takes a maximum of seven days,” he says.
Mwangi Kariuki, the CEO Kicks and Heels, during the interview in Nairobi on July 3, 2021.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
“What really gives me satisfaction is not the sales that we make, but the feedback we get after successful delivery. My customers’ needs come first, like other e-commerce industries, the growth of online shoe sales has been positively influenced by the increasing accessibility of mobile internet connections,” he adds.
While Kicks and Heels is his primary job, he is also the chairman of the parent company, Jenga Group, which is focused on inventing and innovating around commerce and customer satisfaction.
Mwangi works with a team of four - two developers, an accountant and an operations officer. Rather than have a central office where employees report, the company has partnered up with WICARE, a Nairobi based startup that provides low cost professional services to businesses.
“They are the frontier in the future of work. The only people who report for work are the operations manager and his team who ensure the right shoe goes to the right customer, this model saves us 70 percent of the money we would need to run the company while improving efficiency by 45 percent," he says.
Ultimately, his aim is to create a seamless, fun and interactive shopping experience for his clients constantly inventing and innovating. But even the most promising venture faces challenges, among the setbacks the companies face is the high cost of shipping products out of, and into the country, a factor that eats into their profits.
The shoe business has been operational for four months now and has sold over 400 pairs of shoes to date. The shoes cost from as low as Sh500 a pair. One can access the platform by downloading the Kicks and Heels application on Google Play Store and the create an account.
“We are working on a model to enable local shoe sellers sell and display their products on our platform, the aim to give them a wider scope of the market.
Mindful of the environment, one of Mwangi’s model of delivery is use of electric bikes which reduce the carbon footprint.
“Our parent company, Jenga Group, is coming up with ways to eradicate unemployment by creating a workforce of remote service providers,” Mwangi says, adding that they aspire to change the narrative that only the government can create jobs for the youth, by creating jobs for themselves and fellow youth.
