Jumia Kenya has launched “Jumia Express” service (formerly “Jumia First”) in Nairobi in a move expected to see shoppers enjoy next day deliveries in Nairobi and 1 day faster than normal in other parts of the country.
Jumia is still mum about same day deliveries in Nairobi a year after it was launched in Nigeria .
“Our customers want us to deliver as fast as possible. We have been working very hard to make this happen, and can now consistently deliver Jumia Express orders next day within Nairobi & up to 1 day faster in the rest of the country. Thousands of products are now available on Jumia Express, with more vendors signing up to the service each week”, said Jumia Managing Director Sam Chappatte.
The items carrying the Jumia Express logo include: Groceries, fashion, smartphones, TVs & home appliances.
“Given that these products are sitting in our warehouse, we are guaranteed to have 100% availability & can pick and pack these products much faster than those that are sitting with vendors. This ensures Jumia Express orders are faster”, stated Chappatte.
Tuskys and Unilever are among suppliers in Kenya whose products are being fulfilled by Jumia Express. Jumia Express is also made available to Jumia’s vendors at a moderate cost. Jumia Express is only available to local vendors. Products coming from abroad on the Jumia Global program will continue to take 10-12 days to be delivered.
Though Jumia says the launch was a move to make online shopping as seamless as possible for customers, and shortly after announcing improvements in the process for vendors to join the platform and doubling the number of vendors on the platform, and growing its assortment 10 times to 350,000 products since last year, the improvements could as well be a strategic plan to for Jumia to remain competitive as Safaricom readies launch of Masoko, its online SME marketplace.
After Kilimall failed to compete Jumia on delivery and inventory, people close to the company see this as a wake up call to Jumia and will help it streamline eCommerce in the country and set standards for the competition.
