On the first day of Jumia Anniversary 2019, Jumia Kenya surpassed its African record of the most number of orders placed in a minute, Managing Director Sam Chappatte has revealed.
According to Chappatte, the orders placed on Monday exceeded the continental record by 30%. Chappate who remained guarded on the number of orders placed described the statistics as a sign of confidence that Kenyans have in e-commerce.
“Basic household products such as sugar, unga and detergent were the most demanded items. We also saw a huge demand for alcoholic drinks. Orders for electronics such as TVs and mobile phones were also high,” said Chappate during an interview with Business Today on Tuesday.
Jumia Anniversary is an annual flash sale that the e-commerce platform holds for a fixed period where the different items that the online retailer stocks are sold for extremely low prices, for instance during this year’s anniversary, a 2kg packet of Kabras Sugar is being sold at Ksh20, normally it retails at Ksh200.
The purpose of the flashsale is to net customers and turn them into regular ones. This year’s Jumia Anniversary runs from June 24 to July 14.
Jumia is also moving to expand its countrywide footprint, it is eyeing setting up 600 pick up stations across the whole country from the current 170.
According to the managing director, the setting up of more pick up stations is meant to ensure more convenience for the company’s customers.
{Read: How Jumia handles goods returned by customers}
“Pick up stations are more convenient because customers get to choose what time when they pick up an order, it is also cheaper for them because it means that we do not get to pass on the deliverly charges to them,” said Chappatte.
Recently, the company tapped 20 new pick up stations in Eldoret and Chappatte says that the move is strategic since Eldoret is proving to be a very promising market.
“Mombasa is our second best performing market after Nairobi. We decided to invest more in Eldoret because we believe the town has massive potential,” added Chappatte.
{See also: Meet logistics guru behind every package you order from Jumia}
The company is also looking to expand to other towns. First on its radar is Kiambu which will serve as a corridor to the other towns that the online retailer is eyeing on that path.
“We see a growing potential & many underserved customers in areas outside of Nairobi,” said Chappate.
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