About Us

The ultimate guide to selling on the Prime Stores Marketplace

 At Prime Stores we’ve built a business on the principle that our customer is the king. Our business is retail and we strive by every means possible to have the widest range of products and the best possible customer service. We’re doing it by employing the best strategies. We pride in our ability to use our great minds to achieve what others have failed to do, and this sets us apart from the rest – and because we care, we are able to deliver the best imaginable value for our customers, stakeholders and the planet!

How to Sell on Prime Stores

You may have heard that selling on the Prime Stores Marketplace is one of the best ways to access the Zimbabwean e-commerce market. Whether you are wanting to generate some passive income or start an e-commerce empire this is the guide for you. Selling on the Prime Stores Marketplace may sound confusing but with this guide we’ll help you understand all the requirements for getting an account set up on the Prime Stores Seller Portal, familiarize you with the fees, and make you aware of potential pitfalls that come with selling on the Prime Stores Marketplace.

By following this guide you’ll be able to begin your Prime Stores Marketplace journey with confidence, starting the path to building a profitable internet business.

Why sell on the Prime Stores Marketplace?

Prime Stores is the largest e-commerce website in Zimbabwe and every month thousands of people visit Prime Stores to see what products are on offer. What makes Prime Stores unique among retailers in Zimbabwe is that we provide a marketplace. Where traditional retailers will only buy from a select few suppliers, Prime Stores allows anyone who is approved to list products on our e-commerce store, where they can be purchased by the thousands of people who visit our online marketplace each month. There is indeed a huge opportunity for Marketplace Sellers.

Prime Stores Seller Portal Registration

Before you can sell your products on the Prime Stores Marketplace you’ll need to apply to become a Prime Stores Marketplace Seller. You can apply to become a marketplace seller at this URL https://primestores.co.zw/start-selling. We will ask you to fill in information about your business and advise us of main categories you wish to sell on the Marketplace. After you have submitted the application form you can expect us to get back to you within 5 working days.

We do not require a registered business and an existing range of products in order to be approved to sell on Prime Stores. You can apply to sell as an individual and all you’ll need to be approved is your Zimbabwean ID number. Companies need to provide their company documents to be able to sell on our marketplace.

Getting Started Selling on Prime Stores

Once your Seller Account has been approved we will give you access to the Prime Stores Seller Portal. This is where you manage and supervise everything happening with your Prime Stores Marketplace Business. The Seller Portal shows your orders, provides tools for you to list new products, import new products and export reports so you can understand how your business is performing.

Adding Products to the Prime Stores Seller Portal

With a few exceptions, you can sell almost any product on our marketplace. Before you can start selling your products, you need to ensure that the product(s) you wish to sell is part of our product range. Within our Prime Stores Seller Portal, you can search our product range by title to see if your product already exists in the catalogue. If your product is branded and commonly found in retail stores across Zimbabwe there is a high chance the product will already exist in the Prime Stores product catalogue. Should you find that the product already exists, you can simply click ‘sell this product’ to add to your shop. You can then edit the product and put your own price and variations.

 In order to sell your product on Prime Stores, you will have to compile the product information, along with descriptions and images and submit it to Prime Stores in order for the product listing to be created. You can also upload these on your own from the seller portal, but these need to be approved first before they are available for purchase on our shop front.

Currently, you can add new products individually or via an Excel spreadsheet. The excel product load sheet is uploaded from within the Seller Portal and then manually reviewed by our Prime Stores catalogue team to ensure it conforms to the Catalogue Product Information Rules & Requirements. Once a product is submitted, the approval process can take anywhere between 1 and 14 days. If your listing does not conform to the exact requirements it will be rejected. We will then be require you to correct the errors and resubmit the submission sheet. Don’t despair though our team is there to assist you.

Once you have successfully added products to the Prime Stores Seller Portal, it’s time to sit back and wait – you are on your way to making your first sale.

Orders and Shipping Logistics

Selling products online on the Prime Stores Marketplace enables you to offer a wide range of products to the large number of Prime Stores of visitors without incurring significant costs. Additionally, selling online enables you to sell your products on other channels, such as your own e-commerce store or other online marketplaces, as the products remain in your warehouse until an order is placed.

All products sold via the marketplace are shipped and delivered by the Sellers themselves. Deliveries are made via courriers or are directly done by the sellers themselves, depending on their shipping policies. Buyers may also opt to collect their goods directly from the sellers premises if they are in the same locality. This means that as Prime Stores we do not hold any stock and at any time do we have possession of the sellers’ goods.

Once an online order is placed on the Prime Stores Marketplace you need to ensure that your product is packed and ready to be picked by our courier partners. If your product is not delivered in reasonable in time, we will cancel the order and you’ll be charged an Order Cancellation Penalty. Additionally, late lead time orders will negatively affect the performance metrics of your Seller Account.

Running a successful Prime Stores Marketplace business requires that you keep an updated list of your stock so that you do not disappoint customers. You need to have a good grasp on your most popular products and most popular lines ensuring that they’re always in stock

Why Sell on Prime Stores Marketplace

We have a number of packages that you can enroll to sell your products, starting from the free starter package. We handle the marketing part, customer service and the running of our website. This allows you to focus on investing in and expanding your product range while we handle the marketing aspects on your behalf.

Fees incurred for listing your products are summarized as follows:

• A subscription fee that depends on package you are in applies. It starts from a free package.
• Every sale you make on Prime Stores will come with a success/commission fee. The commission is a percentage of the total sale price of your product. The size of the percentage varies per product category and typically range from 8% to 15%.

Payments to Vendors

After a successful sale, we will settle/pay for the delivered goods. Vendors can request payment anytime provided they have met a threshold of USD20. Once this has been met, payments can be disbursed. Payments will be settled in the currency of order.