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Jumia, pan-African e-commerce platform, has stated that its free delivery service has continued to play significant role in customers’ repeat purchases.
Early in the year, Jumia launched its free delivery service to consumers in Lagos and Abuja, with expansion to Ibadan, Oyo State in the second quarter (Q2) of 2022.
According to the company’s first quarter (Q1) financial report for the year, orders on Jumia experienced a 40 per cent Year-over-Year (YoY) compared to the similar period in 2021. Revenue increased by 44 per cent YoY, while its quarterly active subscribers increased by 28.7 per cent, from 2.4 million in Q1 2021 to 3.1 million in Q1 2022.
Its Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV), the total value of products sold, also increased by 27 per cent YoY.
While growth in these metrics can be linked to its fast-moving-consumer-goods and food delivery category, which grew by 180 per cent YoY and 86 per cent YoY, respectively, Jumia explained it is important to note that fast and free shipping plays a significant role in repeat purchases.
The company said 57 per cent of the packages it shipped in the last quarter reached consumers within 24 hours of order placement. This was attributed to a better warehouse organisation in picking and packing items and coordinating with logistics providers and delivery riders. These free shipping perks from online retailers are mostly available to consumers in big cities due to the high rate of e-commerce activities.
Olajide Akeem, Jumia consumer, acknowledged that since the introduction of free delivery in January 2022, he now shopped more for his groceries while paying less.
“The free delivery incentive offered by Jumia allows me to shop more for my everyday items like semo, oats, sardine and spaghetti. Rather than going to a physical market and pricing from one shop to the other, I can sit in the comfort of my home and have my items delivered to me without having to pay for shipping. The convenience of shopping online is truly amazing and to top it with free delivery means I will keep coming back to the platform,” he said.
He said now that Jumia has normalised the concept of fast, free delivery, with its improved logistics services, businesses in Nigeria need to do more to meet consumer demands for fast shipping at no extra cost.
