KENYA – Jumia, the leading e-commerce firm has launched an online mall dubbed Jumia Mall where consumers will directly purchase products from authorized distributors of international and local brands.
The mall will enable brands who have listed on Jumia Mall to able to differentiate their official suppliers from the wider marketplace.
“We are seeking to attract new customers into the online shopping category, for the benefit of both our brands and the wider marketplace vendors,” said Jumia Kenya CEO Mr. Chappatte.
“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,” added Mr. Chappatte.
Already, Jumia Kenya has formed partnerships with leading brands such as Ramtons, Hisense, Huawei, Jameson, HP, Vitron, Sony, Tagwood, Vision Plus, Uka, Nivea, and HMD Nokia.
“This mall is here to truly democratize our brands and give our customers a chance to buy the highest quality and authentic products from official brand stores,” said Nivea Sales Director Vikash Kumar.
They also revealed that Jumia is looking to increase the level of transparency on the site by giving customers history of vendors on the site. Customers will also enjoy next-day delivery for products stocked under Jumia Express.
The launching of the virtual brands one stop platform comes as the latest innovation from Jumia, which has set itself apart as the leading Pan-African e-commerce firm.
Jumia Mall will host official brands, Jumia Global will host international vendors, while the marketplace will include local, vetted sellers.
The company, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange currently has over 80,000 sellers and serves over 750 million consumers in Africa through its marketplace platforms in 14 African countries.
The company directly employs 5000 people (500 of which are in Kenya), and is expected to contribute significantly towards the 3 million jobs that are expected from online marketplaces by 2025 reports.