The Largest Online Shopping Mall in Uganda and Beyond. What is Jumia?
Updated: Apr 3, 2022
Jumia is the largest African online marketplace for electronics, and fashion among others targeting several African countries. Jumia is also a vendor community and a network of sellers, and a logistics service company that enables the shipment and delivery of packages from sellers and the Jumia warehouse to consumers all over Uganda and beyond. It is a direct competitor to Konga in Nigeria.
Jumia also has a payment service (Jumia Pay), which facilitates transactions among participants active on Jumia’s platform in selected markets.
Jumia is not just a marketplace for fashion but a marketplace for all products. I mean you can do all your shopping on Jumia including fresh beef sausages for your dinner, soda, washing soap, cooking oil, electronics, drinking chocolate or sugar, sneakers or t-shirts, kitchen knives, and rice cookers, wireless gadgets, gas stoves, refrigerators, protective gear, watches and bracelets, smart TVs, Baking flour, memory cards, laptops, and desktop computers, all accessed under one online shopping mall.
Jumia was founded in 2012, by Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec, along with Tunde Kehinde and Raphael Kofi Afaedor.
It was launched in Lagos in 2012 and expanded to five other countries: Egypt, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and South Africa. In 2014, the company launched offices in Tunisia, Tanzania , Ghana , Cameroon , Algeria, and Uganda , and by 2018 it was present in 14 African countries. As I said, Uganda and beyond.
In Egypt, Jumia has been trying to categorize itself as one of the leading e-commerce websites, and in South Africa, Jumia operates under the brand name Zando (zando.co.za), focusing only on online fashion retail.
Jumia Products that You didn't know about
Besides the huge online marketplace for groceries and electronics, Jumia offers a wide range of other products that I bet you have never heard of. To learn more about Jumia products, however, let's continue with the history of Jumia.
Before we continue, however, to use all these products, you will need to have a Jumia account, just like you have that Google account that gives you access to all Google products.
Step 1: Create an Account to Use Jumia Products & Services
On Jumia's home page, just beside the search button, you will find the login button. You can click on login or click on create a new account.
Step 2: Use Your Email and Password or Facebook to log in
Next, you simply use your Facebook account to register for a Jumia account or simply use your email address and create a password, not forgetting your name.
Now, with your new Jumia account, you can get started benefiting from free shipping and home delivery, plus my favorite, make cash from home. The JForce, I simply refer to this as the Jumia Affiliate program.
In June 2013, Jumia launched Jumia Travel, a hotel booking platform, and Jumia Food, a food delivery platform.
Jumia Deals was launched in April 2015. In 2017, Jumia launched Jumia One, an app that enables customers to pay bills such as airtime. The same year, Jumia launched Jumia Pay, Jumia Pay is a service payment service for people to shop on all Jumia services. It facilitates transactions among participants active on Jumia’s platform in selected markets.
This was followed by the Jumia lending program, an initiative that allows its vendors to access business loans.
In 2015, Jumia generated ($234) million in revenue, which stands for a 265% growth from 2014. In 2016, Jumia became the continent’s first unicorn being valued at over 1 billion USD. In late November 2018, Jumia partnered with cryptocurrency company Telcoin to enhance payment service capabilities throughout their areas of operation.
In April 2019, Jumia went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and raised ($196) million in net proceeds. The share price, initially offered at ($14.50), rose more than 200% in the first three trading sessions.
Jumia Nigeria’s eCommerce website, Jumia.com.ng, is ranked number 1,503 in global internet engagement and the thirteenth most visited website in Nigeria in late April 2020, according to Alexa.com
Jumia, An Award-winning Company.
You are not convinced yet about joining the largest online shopping mall in Uganda? Well then take a look at what people have to say. Over the years, Jumia has strived to offer quality service at affordable prices and went on to win various awards and recognitions including;-
2013 Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria Awards (Online Retail Brand of the Year)
2013 World Retail Awards
2014 Best Online Retail Brand of the Year Award
2015: E-commerce Customer Service Excellence Awards
2016: Jumia ranked 82nd in the Top WIRED 100 list
2017: Jumia is listed among the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Smartest Companies 2017. Ranking 47 on the list, Jumia is the only African company named in MIT’s top 50 smartest companies.
2019: Jumia crowned Tunisia’s best e-shop
2019: eCommerce Company of the Year Award in Nigeria
2019: Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana eCommerce Company of the Year.
Benefits of Being a Member. Why not join an Award-winning Team?
Jumia has partnered with more than 50,000 local African companies and individuals. For example, In Nigeria, through their affiliate marketing program and also in Uganda through the Jumia sales consultant scheme.
By the way, I am a Jumia agent too, you can place your orders with me. Seriously. If you want to learn how to make money placing orders for your friends and family just contact me and I will recruit you to my team.
2. List Your Products on Jumia. Reach Over 100,000 customers
Did you know that if you have a shop and you want to expand and grow your business, Jumia gives you a platform with the potential to reach over 100,000 customers and access to marketing analytics tools?
How it works is you register with your bank account details and a few documents, complete dedicated training for new sellers, then list your products and start selling. Listing is free but you are charged a percentage depending on your product categories.
3. Jumia Prime. Who Doesn't Love Free Shipping, Home Delivery?
If you enjoy home delivery and you are a frequent buyer, you will want to check out Jumia prime. When you become a prime member, you enjoy free shipping on all orders for non-bulky goods and items that are shipped from abroad. You can tell a product is shipped from abroad by the blue tag that reads "Shipped from abroad" like in the picture below.
Other benefits you can enjoy as a prime member include free shipping on all food orders, prime-only discounts, and top priority customer service.
4. Jumia Mall - A Collection of Top Brands in One Place
The Jumia mall is a collection of trusted brands in one place. You will find official stores like DStv, Cocacola, Nokia, HP, Samsung, and more
When you use Jumia for your online shopping you enjoy the above benefits and more, like vouchers and promotional offers in your email and by notifications on your phone. Especially when you have the Jumia mobile app installed. You also enjoy:-
Return Policy (Up to 15 days return policy)
Authentic (Original and High-quality products)
Lowest prices
Home Delivery (Door-step-delivery by Jumia riders)
Cash on Delivery
Prepaid Orders
Jumia Tech Deals (Tech Week)
Jumia Treasures
Customer service
You can also become a Jumia logistics partner. Which means you can get paid for your unused space. How it works is you offer your space to be used as one of the Jumia pickup stations. While people are shopping on Jumia, they can choose your location as their pickup option unless they choose home delivery.
Before we leave there is one thing that might be a headache to some people and that is shopping or placing orders on Jumia. Here is quick videos that explains the steps.
Conclusion
There is much to discuss with Jumia including selling your products on Jumia and also helping other people place orders while taking home big money in commission for every order you make using the JForce app.
As much as I would love to continue this lovely talk about Jumia and their cool products and services, this has already become long. So, I would like to first, sincerely appreciate your time. You put up with the boring history but I am sure you now know a lot more than your friends will ever know about the largest online shopping mall in Uganda. Don't hesitate to share this information if you find it helpful.
Have you used Jumia for your online shopping before? Do you have questions on any of the products and services we have discussed today?
