Jumia

“We build a digital Africa, connecting Africans with each other, bringing consumer goods and services to all”

Founded: May 2012 in Lagos, Nigeria Category: Ecommerce marketplace Primary office: Dubai, UAE Core technical team: Porto, Portugal Status: Listed in NYSE Employees: 5,128 Amount raised: $823.7 million over 5 rounds

OVERVIEW Enables 1.2 billion consumers to buy goods and services from 17 million small and medium businesses in Africa via the Internet. Offers sellers services such as integration to the online marketplace, content production, pricing, sales and marketing services, payments, logistics and seller support   PERFORMANCE METRICS Market cap: $866 million on Sep 7, 2019 Revenue: $119.9 million (€130.6 million) in 2018 Gross merchandise value: $709.5 million (€828.2 million) in 2018   ACHIEVEMENTS – 2018  Ecommerce operations in 14 African countries and payments via proprietary platform in 4 Over 700 million visits to marketplace 1 transaction or lead every 2 seconds 81,000 active sellers 90% of items sold are offered by third-party sellers Over 29 million products, hotels, restaurants, and other services listed

Sells

Marketplace services:

• Retain commissions based on the value of goods and services that a large and diverse group of parties sell to consumers via the marketplace, net of cancellations and returns
• Sell goods directly in selected categories where there is unmet demand or there is a need to better control the consumer experience
• Consumers pay for easy access to services such as restaurant food delivery, hotel and flight booking, classified advertising, mobile device services, and “instant delivery”

Logistics services

• Consumers pay for convenient and reliable delivery of goods

Payment services

• Consumers pay for a safe, fast and easy solution to make online payments

Channels

• Relationships with providers of online services, search engines, social media, directories and other websites used to provide content, advertising banners and other links that direct consumers to company websites
• Newsletters in the form of emails and other messaging services
• Multi-channel approach to consumer support – respond to requests by email, through hotlines and via social media
• Shareholders and/or their affiliates sell their goods on marketplace and promote the marketplace via their goods and distribution channels
• More than 100 logistics providers are integrated into company’s logistics service and help sellers deliver goods to consumers
• Banks and other payment providers promote company’s services
• Advertise using applications on others’ platforms
• Market via social media sites, including Facebook
• Targeted TV and radio ads

Competencies

• Operates in 14 countries in Africa. Technology, strategy and raising funds are centralized.  Manage operations on a decentralized basis – local managers have significant freedom concerning day-to-day operations
• Brand is well known by consumers and sellers – delivers all goods and services under the Jumia brand
• Deep knowledge of the logistics and payment landscapes in African markets
• Continuously develop a technology platform coupled with coordinated local presence
• Large network of leased warehouses, pick up stations for consumers and drop-off locations for sellers and more than 100 local third-party logistics service providers
• Advanced technology platform collects significant amounts of data that drive proprietary algorithms — help run the business more efficiently and enable sellers, consumers and partners to maximize the value of the platform

Resources

Assertions That Best Describe What the Company Did to Scale Early, Rapidly & Securely

1. Develop and sell products that address a problem, job to be done or a need that is shared by a large and growing number of individuals and organizations in various regions to increase sales
2. Increase sales by offering a variety of products and services to each market
3. Sell online using a variety of online and offline promotional channels to increase the number of new customers and the retention rate of existing customers
4. Increase value by arranging and directing a community comprised of groups that are external and internal to the company and connect everything needed to scale
5. Increase market share by applying digital technology to brand, market, sell, and service customers more cost-effectively than competitors
6. Manage foreign partners who are geographically separate, institutionally distant, and operate in different time zones to increase value
7. Increase value by using a compelling image of the desired future company to convince others to provide the funding and resources the company requires

References

• Crunchbase. 2019. Jumia Group Funding Rounds. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/jumia-group/funding_rounds/funding_rounds_list#section-funding-rounds
• Jumia website. https://group.jumia.com/
• Kazeem, Y. 2019. What makes Africa’s largest e-commerce platform African? March 19. https://qz.com/africa/1572318/what-makes-jumia-an-african-startup/
• Kehinde, T. 2019. Linkedin Profile. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tunde-kehinde-048aa635?originalSubdomain=ng
• PitchBook. 2019. Jumia Profile. https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/56263-96
• United States Securities and Exchange Commission. 2019. Form F-1 Registration Statement. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1756708/000119312519071692/d650749df1.htm#toc
• Wikipedia. 2019. Jumia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumia

Contributors

• Toye Akinwumi
• Esther Anegbe
• Eduardo Bailetti
• Tony Bailetti