Jumia, the NYSE listed e-commerce platform today launched Jumia Advertising Services, its online platform to brands and corporate organizations in Kenya to use for advertising.
According to the company’s CEO, Sam Chappatte, the platform will help brands to reach highly targeted segments, right at the moment of purchase.
“20% of active internet users in Kenya are on Jumia each month. We know our customers well – what they shop, how much they spend, etc – and can use this to present relevant adverts to them. This can enable our customers to discover relevant products & services, and will become a powerful digital marketing channel for advertisers,” said Jumia Kenya CEO, Sam Chappatte.
The firm recently appointed Kenneth Oyolla as its Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) to drive commercial success. Oyolla has worked with IPS Group Limited, Unilever, Nokia, Microsoft and Multichoice among others.
His vast knowledge in Brand and Marketing Management, Brand and Sales Management, Product Marketing, Customer Marketing, Global Business Development, and E-commerce Sales Managemen will help grow the company’s position as the leading e-commerce marketplace in Kenya, drive commercial success of the company and shape its strategic plan for growth.
With operations across 11 countries in Africa, the online store plans to target users geographically and segment them based on their shopping behaviour at the most granular level.
Since its public listing, Jumia has been under pressure to investors and shareholders to perform and the launch of Jumia Advertising Services is a step towards the right direction. These new features mean increased monetization of its platform.
Jumia is also set to open its extensive logistics network to third parties (eg for deliveries of packages, even those not sold on Jumia). Recently, Jumia launched JumiaPay to facilitate the payments of online transactions for Jumia’s ecosystem. JumiaPay will also be giving loans to its vendors.
With over 1 billion people and 500 million internet users in Africa, e-commerce is set to make people’s lives easier by helping them shop and pay for millions of products at the best prices wherever they live.