Here Is What Happened When I decided To shop Online For The First Time

I have always been fascinated by the idea of shopping online, because most of my friends always do it to get affordable shoes and bags on Ebay. It was not until I landed on a great deal on a pair of shoes, that somehow appeared in my news feed on Facebook, that I decided to take a plunge. I’m a shoe addict, and there’s no way I was going to let the deal go. It was Jumia, and they’re really aggressive when it comes to advertising on Facebook. This time, I didn’t ignore the ad (I always do), and went ahead to follow the link and place my order. I’ve read quite a number of negative reviews on the experience of shopping online, so I was ready for anything.

I navigated their collection, and found a deal galore on everything from accessories, shoes, bags and clothing; and they were all amazing. What happened next was a change in thought, I found this nice Dolby Eau De Perfume which was irresistible, thanks to the unbelievable price tag. I’m all for a better deal, so I even forgot I had landed on the site to buy shoes.

I placed my order immediately. I always thought, making a purchase online was as easy as just clicking to purchase and that’s about it. On Jumia, I had to move my order up to the shopping cart, something well, I wasn’t really acquainted with. However, I later found my way around it without any external help (yeey)! After confirming the order but pending payment, I received a message and later a call that my package would be delivered in three days.

Three days later, a gentleman called and offered that my order was ready and would be delivered shortly. He was at my door step in no time, asked me to sign somewhere to confirm that, I had actually received my package. He went ahead and asked me to check the package if it was actually a perfume there in, which I found very helpful. The customer care was excellent, I just hope it happens on every order they receive. I paid, and immediately began taking photos with my new perfume.

I took some photos with my new purchase

This was before I opened the package

I’ve been using the perfume and it is everything I had imagined, I have no reason to fret over my purchase. The experience was exciting and I’m looking forward to shopping online again soon, of course that will be shoes.

Do I plan on never going to physical boutiques again in favour of online shopping? Not quite. You see, convenience is key when shopping, something shopping online in Uganda doesn’t offer completely. I’m yet to use other online shops though.

These were my drawbacks.

• Navigating the Jumia website was a bit cumbersome, you must be a bit tech savvy to know what to do. I had trouble placing my order into the cart, because well, I didn’t know it is what you had to do to proceed. I believe this was because this was my first time. I’m told using the app is much easier, so next time I’ll shop using the app.
• You have to wait for 3 days or more to receive your package. This means that if you want something right then, you’ll have to get off your couch and pick it up from a physical shop.
• The return policy is something you must understand well before taking a plunge. In this case, it wasn’t clearly stipulated by Jumia on most of their products.

This however, won’t take away the exciting part, where I just clicked on a product and in 3 days, it was already delivered.

Have you shopped online in Uganda? What was your experience like?

Gloria is fashion writer at The Daily Monitor

gloriahaguma@gmail.com