KENYA – Jumia, an online shopping firm, has partnered with over 50 brands to launch their Official Online Stores with Jumia Mall, allowing customers to purchase their favourite products exclusively from authorized distributors.
It has also signed a new partnership deal with the Postal Corporation of Kenya (Posta) that will grow the e-commerce firm’s pick-up points across the country in the wake of today’s launch of “Mall for Brands” concept. The mall service promises same-day delivery of products.
The deal with the State agency will see the Africa-focused e-commerce platform grow the number of pick-up points by 150, complementing the already existing 200 spread across major towns in Kenya.
According to Jumia Kenya CEO Sam Chappatte, this is a curated section on the platform that allows customers to easily identify the official distributors of leading brands on the site.
“We are on a mission to build trust in online shopping. As part of this, we have partnered with over 50 brands to launch their Official Online Stores with Jumia Mall. This allows customers to shop from the official suppliers if they choose to. And for brands to differentiate their official suppliers from the wider marketplace,” Chappatte says.
Local brands setting up official online stores on the e-commerce platform will pay a commission ranging between five percent and 15 percent depending on product pricing and categories.
Customers will have a choice to buy from Jumia Mall (official brands), Jumia Global (international vendors) or a large number of quality-vetted local resellers (the marketplace).
Customers who shop on this section will also be guaranteed 100% authenticity, official warranties from the brands, and a 15-day return policy in case they change their mind.
The partnered companies include HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, BLU smartphones- a US firm, PZ Cussons, Ramtons, ASUS, Hisense among others.
HMD (Nokia) Senior Business Manager, East Africa, Gopher Ogembo said the new partnership will now allow them to have more control on their products in the market.
‘’The advantage of having Jumia Mall is that it is specific to our brand and that will allow us to have targeted campaigns and offers.’’
Jumia has over 80,000 sellers and serves over 750 million consumers in the region through its marketplace platforms in 14 African countries.
The company directly employs 5000 people, 500 of which in Kenya, and is expected to contribute significantly towards the 3 million jobs that are expected from online marketplaces by 2025.