The Jumia Kenya Managing Director Sam Chappatte has said East African nation; Kenya, is one of the three countries where the retail giant, will be piloting its third-party payment solution ‘Jumia Pay’ which aims to provide a “more convenient” payment method to its users. He made this known, during a recent interview with Kenyan Wallstreet.
Jumia Pay which is the byproduct of the recent partnership with Mastercard who agreed to join Jumia as a shareholder after investing $56 million (5.6 billion Kenyan Shillings) in a private placement before the IPO, is currently being used in Nigeria and Egypt.
The e-commerce platform aims to to use its partnership with Mastercard as a means to improve its user experience in terms of payments.
Jumia Kenya’s Managing Director; Sam Chappatte said, “We will launch Jumia Pay in Kenya in the next couple of months…. Its a payment platform, its a wallet…. We will reward customers for customers for using Jumia Pay through cash backs.”.
Mr. Chappatte added that Julia’s third-party sales agents under the JForce, are growing at a very fast rate and have now exceeded the 25,000 mark.
The JForce program allows individuals to earn commissions by helping customers to place orders on Jumia’s online shop.
Sellers on the e-commerce platform, typically make about 1,000 kenyan Shillings to 500,000 kenyan Shillings every month.
Mr Chappatte also revealed that the retail giant, have been piloting and will soon launch an agency pick up model. With this pick up model, existing shop owners such as dry cleaners, fuel stations e.t.c, will be able to sign up as Jumia pick up stations allowing them to earn more revenues from commissions earned by placing orders and allowing users pick up their orders.
According to Chappatte, everyday products such as soap, flour are the platform’s largest category by volumes alot of customer acquisition as well as repetition.
Jumia which began operations in Kenya in May 2013, currently employs over 500 staff in its Kenyan operations with a target of employing 15,000 staff, a clear demonstration of the company’s impact in the job market both directly and indirectly.
The company’s ability to solve the complex logistics problem which has been a major challenge for online platforms especially for players in the Kenyan market and Africa at large, has been one of its biggest advantages.
Besides enhancing the retail e-commerce space, Mr. Chappatte says that the recent Jumia IPO listing means a lot to the African technology ecosystem as it will help raise the profile of local and regional startups in terms of capital raising.
Mr. Chappatte further stated that Jumia’s global partnership are also playing a huge part in ensuring that the company continues to offer convenience to its ever growing base of users.
A good example, is Jumia’s recently announced partnership with Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi to enable users access exclusive Xiaomi products on the platform.
Jumia has also partnered with Majid Al Futtaim; the exclusive franchise operator of Carrefour, to offer online shopping in the region.
A recent report by Boston Consulting Group projects that online marketplaces are starting to boost incomes, create jobs, and offer new opportunities for the African continent’s fast-growing population.
The BCG also projects that by 2025, marketplaces such as Jumia, Uber, Souq, Thundafund, Travelstart have the potential to create around 3 million new jobs which will range from, retail and hospitality workers, to delivery drivers across the continent.
