German home appliances brand, Bosch, has opened its first exclusive showroom in Nairobi, Kenya. Located at The Oval House, Westlands, the store promises to be an exceptional experiential centre, where consumers can test and purchase appliances from Bosch’s entire home range.
The store is Bosch’s first dedicated brand shop in East and Central Africa that will carry the full range of appliances. Kenyan customers will be able to immerse themselves in Bosch innovation and forge a stronger connection with the brand. Customers will be able to test and purchase the latest appliances such as the Series 8 and 6 gas hobs with FlameSelect, and Bosch’s Series 8 ovens. People who love to reinvent their kitchen every day will find the VarioStyle bottom freezer, with a choice of 19 easily interchangeable coloured front panels, appealing. Currently, Kenyan consumers are able to purchase a range of Bosch appliances at Hot Point Appliances; Game stores; Carrefour and at the Village Supermarket.
“Bosch home appliances were designed to significantly simplify and improve daily life and we are excited to introduce the extended range to our Kenyan customers. The new brand store gives the Kenyan community access to an extensive collection of the latest high-quality, energy-efficient products in the market,” says Norbert Klein, BSH, Head of Region for Turkey, Middle East, Africa and CIS.
The brand store’s launch offers the perfect opportunity to appreciate this innovative German brand with products such as the Bosch FreshBox, a low-cost, off-grid chiller that was specifically developed for remote areas in Africa. The chiller keeps food fresh without electricity and under optimum environmental conditions (hot and dry weather), the internal temperature of FreshBox can be reduced by up to 10°C, when compared to the outside temperature, keeping food up to four times fresher for longer and resulting in fewer trips to the market and reducing food waste at the same time by using just 1,2 l water in total.
With the Bosch FreshBox, food storage becomes significantly easier. Both time and money will be saved with this simple solution. It enables consumers to store the food longer, which means fewer trips to the market and reducing food waste at the same time.
The FreshBox was officially launched in Kisumu and Machakos at the beginning of August 2018.
“The FreshBox was developed as a direct result of intensive customer research in Kenya and Nigeria, and will be sold in Kenya under our Bosch brand,” says Klein.
“This once again demonstrates BSH’s long-term commitment to the Kenyan market as well as our expansion and marketing strategy in-country,” said BSH’s VP for Sub-Saharan African Region, Allan Oyier.
“Kenyans can now experience every aspect of the Bosch brand and how our extensive product range can be dynamically incorporated into any lifestyle,” he added.
Bosch’s entry in Kenya comes at a time when the country has developed its formal retail industry with capacity to grow even further. According to Kenya’s latest Consumer Confidence Index (from research firm Nielsen), the number of retail outlets in Kenya has also increased, with a rise in more specialist and out-of-home retailers and more suppliers, experiencing double digit growth every year. Modern Trade store numbers now extend to 660 (up by 36 stores), while the number of Traditional Trade (Dukkha’s and Table Tops) and Specialist Outlets (Hair, Beauty, Electronic and Baby Retailers) also continues to increase. This has resulted in a retail landscape which is far more competitive and requires greater precision and optimisation to reach the right consumers.
Again, existing modern trade is gaining shoppers and spend from traditional trade with mid-term growth particularly evident in Nairobi, (17% growth year-on-year), accounting for 36% of overall sales.
Bosch opened the Kenya office in 2016 with three dedicated associates covering East Africa (with support from South Africa). The three associates in charge of the Bosch brand in East Africa are Ronald Arao (Head of East Africa Region), Erick Onyango (Trade Marketing Manager in charge of East Africa) and Oliver Mukunza (the FreshBox Project Manager).
The office handles both Retail and Projects business (clients). Apart from the brand at The Oval in Nairobi, the firm’s appliances are also available at other outlets in Nairobi and Mombasa, through Hotpoint Appliances, Carrefour or directly from our Brand Store in The Oval.
To increase awareness about the brand, Bosch Home Appliances website for Kenya went live in 2017 while the brand’s Facebook page was set up in 2018.
BSH Home Appliances Group, with revenue of some EUR 13.8 billion in 2017 and more than 61,800 employees, is a global leader in the home appliance sector. BSH manufactures its products at around 40 factories and is represented by nearly 80 companies in approximately 50 countries. BSH is a Bosch Group company.
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