For Mariam Al-Shobokshi, July is the first month of the second year of her already very successful online project Kidzkit, Egypt’s, and possibly the Arab world’s, first online rental marketplace for children’s equipment. 

“We have done really well, and we now have at least 200 per cent more clients than when we first went online last year,” she said.

Al-Shobokshi launched her project on Facebook and other social media apps last year with a lot of hope that it would pick up well. This was especially the case given the current economic crunch that is imposing new limitations on spending on a new child and the growing awareness of environmentally friendly circular economy solutions that many are more willing to embrace. 

However, there were also the apprehensions that some might have had over using materials for their children that had been used by other children before outside of more traditional in-family hand-me-down methods.

“It was an ambitious project that I had studied and planned for, but we were launching right after the Covid-19 pandemic, instead of before as originally planned, so it was a moment of obvious apprehension over sharing anything no matter how carefully sterilised it was,” Al-Shobokshi said. 

However, a slow start picked up well, and her project is now ready for further expansion. 

According to Al-Shobokshi, the mother of a four-year-old child, “it all started with a pair of breast bumpers” that she had bought to improve lactation when her daughter was in her very early months. 

The trick did not work, and the few thousand pounds that Al-Shobokshi had spent on the plastic instrument was a total waste. “I thought it might be a good idea to ask on Facebook if someone else would be interested in buying them for a reduction on the original price,” she said.

The reaction she got showed that no one would buy them even at half their original price. And with no close family members to pass them onto, and no plans to have a second child, Al-Shobokshi was willing to give them away. Then she realised that there might be an alternative path: to rent and not to sell.

Having a degree in graphic design and certifications in customer and user experience, Al-Shobokshi decided to launch an online project to rent out materials for children and parents. Sofia, her daughter, was getting older, and many of the items she had were falling out of use, despite the considerable bills they had come with. The same thing applied to other family and friends who had finished having children. 

“I thought that instead of having to store things that were of no use, at least for a few years, it might be more useful for the owners to rent them instead. Expectant parents would be able to rent them instead of having to buy them for a few months’ use, and this would save them money, especially as everything has become so very expensive lately,” Al-Shobokshi said.

“We are talking a good few thousand pounds for a stroller or a child’s car seat.”

Deciding on the list of games and toys that she would include in her rental scheme was difficult because it had to exclude anything that had an oral function like a feeding bottle. Also off the Kidzkit list were stuffed toys that infants and children could either bring close to their mouths or damage while playing.

“We do customised bundles for different kids depending on what the parents require and how much they can spend, but our idea was first of all to provide parents with items that would otherwise be too expensive to buy,” she said.

“We also wanted to help parents who have these items and don’t have hand-me-down plans to make some money out of them.” 

Through her own experience as a mother, Al-Shobokshi knew that key things parents would look for would include cradles of different sizes, strollers, and children’s car seats. “This goes for parents who are not planning to buy these items or for parents who are coming to Egypt for a holiday and don’t want to go through all the hassle of carrying their baby’s stuff with them for a few weeks,” she explained.

Al-Shobokshi credits the success of her project, at first operating only in Cairo and now set to expand across the country, on a partnership with a key investor and to the changing mindsets of new parents who neither shy away from putting out items for rent nor actually renting the items they need for their newborn child instead of buying them. 

She agrees that some sensitivity is still there for some people who do not feel comfortable putting out items to rent or not buying brand-new things. However, she said that this kind of inhibition is receding.

“We are operating online and we get a lot of reviews. We also deliver rented items to the doorsteps of our clients or even to the airport when they land back home,” Al-Shobokshi said. 

To judge by the reactions shared on the Kidzkit Facebook page, people are not just being open about their rental choices, but are also looking for other offers. “We have a good segment of clients who could easily afford to buy, but it makes more sense for them to rent for one reason or another,” she said.

Al-Shobokshi said that Kidzkit housewares include different brands and different kinds of items, some that serve very basic functions and some that offer a bit more luxury.

Today, the Kidzkit team has almost tripled in size, and its range of items has expanded. Al-Shobokshi now plans to reach out to more couples, both those who have items to rent and those who wish to rent various items.

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* A version of this article appears in print in the 3 August, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly