Arabnet Arabnet

In the light of rapid e-commerce growth in the Arab region and the increase of user awareness of the advantages of online shopping, Matia Peroni, one of Jumia Egypt   s managers and founders, considers that the main challenge now is for the user to understand the meaning and have confidence in e-commerce, hoping that users will realize that Jumia’s services are client-centered. He also wishes that the political situation in the country will improve so that the company can ensure more growth and development.

Jumia was established in August 2012 and is part of Africa Internet Holding founded by Rocket Internet. It aims at becoming the first choice for e-shopping in Africa through displaying the best customizeable products at suitable prices. Jumia describes its website as one of the best user-friendly e-shopping centers in Egypt; where it meets all customers’ needs inside Egypt through the best possible means.

As to financing, Jumia receives a monthly report that summarizes all Rocket Internet’s investments and turnover worldwide. According to Matia Peroni, Jumia Egypt has a good position and the company is achieving its goals and growth at a rapid pace. Peroni believes that this is due to the investments they receive for training their employees. In fact, continuous training is organized with prizes granted to winners. He added: “As a proof, there is a big possibility that Rocket will establish two new companies in Egypt by the end of the year. We believe that the Egyptian market deserves this investment and that we are in the early stages of shifting towards e-shopping.”

Jumia handles its own logistics, from taking customer orders, shipping, and storing. According to Matia Peroni, Jumia managed to handle the challenge of increasing customer trust in e-commerce by encouraging people to use the website and give feedbacks. He added that the main feature that helped with the company progress is the customer purchasing experience. The company can ensure that the user gets a refund in case of an error—which does not occur very often—in less than a week. “We believe that after-sale service is the key to gaining customers’ trust.”

When asked about Jumia’s plan to distinguish its website among other competitors and remain within the competition, Peroni answered: “We have the largest investments in the market used to train employees and invest in products and money. We also invest a lot in training our salespeople in customer service. As to warranty, all of our products are authentic and therefore, they have the manufacturer’s warranty. The buyer will receive a receipt upon purchasing from our website. We try to depend on our own marketing initiatives, namely through the internet, where we are considered part of a mother company that owns more than fifty projects worldwide. Being part of a group of large companies gives us the opportunity to share our best experiences and contacts. In fact, we have established a shopping center in Berlin that gathers data and shares the best experiences.”

Same as any other startup in the Arab world and namely in Egypt, Jumia faces unusual work ditions due to the political situation. Peroni commented on the ability of the company to keep working under the unstable political situation in Egypt saying: “Honestly, the investors and I have concerns about the country’s political crisis. However, the situation is totally different with Jumia. It is obvious that Egyptians prefer to stay at home during these turbulent periods and therefore, they decide to shop online. Logistically, we didn’t stop our business at all. We perform deliveries through our salespeople and Aramex across the country and we also deliver products such as clothing the next day of order. We are committed to serving our customers especially in difficult circumstances.”

Last but not least, Jumia has an optimistic vision for the future where it plans to double the number of its products which is currently forty thousand items, in the six coming months and to increase the promotions on some products. Within its plan, there is a project for another expansion in Africa which remains unrevealed now.

Jumia revealed to ArabNet that it will soon be launching a game application that allows participants to win exclusive gifts and the number of users is expected to reach one hundred thousand in the first couple of weeks only.