Online stores joust to be Africa’s ‘best’

These two popular online retail stores compete with each other, as evidenced by fierce pricing policies and even as far as poaching staff from each other, as evidenced by the exit of one of Jumia’s top marketing talents to Konga. According to thenet.ng, Jumia’s former head of marketing and partnership moved over to Konga as […]

These two popular online retail stores compete with each other, as evidenced by fierce pricing policies and even as far as poaching staff from each other, as evidenced by the exit of one of Jumia’s top marketing talents to Konga. According to thenet.ng, Jumia’s former head of marketing and partnership moved over to Konga as Vice President of Marketing early last year as the battle for online retailing supremacy rages.
The site also claims that Jumia spends hundreds of thousands of naira on advertising to boost its customer base, while rival Konga spends less on the same but is always strategizing on growing its customer base.
Even though Konga.com and Jumia.com struggle to outpace the other, the two are believed to draw funding from similar sources. Said sources include fundraiser activities and the wooing of investors as was the case with Konga.com which recently raised more than $20 million through a fundraiser.
The two big financial names that have been associated with Konga and are assumed to be its major sources according to Techcabal.com are Kinnevik and Naspers.
Kinnevik is a Swedish investment company interested in consumer-centric businesses in growing markets especially e-commerce, communication and financial services among others while South Africa-based Naspers is focused on e-media across markets.
During a chat with Daily Trust last year, Tunde Kehinde who co-founded Jumia, revealed that the retailer controls over 60% traffic for online shopping in Nigeria and has over $70 million investment funding.
According to Kehinde, Jumia is expanding across the country. “We have also raised a significant amount of funding to support that growth, with about $75 million worth of funding from firms like JP Morgan, etc.” Information available from Jumia’s blog (blog.jumia.com.ng) also shows that J.P Morgan Asset Management is also one of its investors.
Though Jumia and Konga play major roles in online shopping in Nigeria, shoppers who spoke to Weekly Trust said they both can do more in terms of delivery.
One Vincent Agwu, who says he discovered them while surfing the net, decided to give them a try. “I decided to test run them because you know that in a country like ours, there are many fraudsters. So I ordered for 4-gigabyte flash drive just to test them and it paid off in the end.” He added that he has patronized other shopping sites but prefers Jumia.com because he feels their service is effective. “I also have not experienced any disappointment from them.”
But another Jumia.com customer said her first experience with them was disappointing. “My order wasn’t delivered until I became anxious and put in several calls to complain. But they are very good at customer care as a pleasant voice answers to your every problem. But having the problem solved is a whole different matter.”
Tolani Alabi, who has shopped with Konga.com for at least two years now, said she finds it a most convenient means to buy gadgets, furniture and even groceries. “Online shopping is the best thing that has happened to me because before their advent, going to the market wasn’t my thing at all. I shopped in supermarkets for virtually everything,” the Wuse 2 resident said.
For the web designer, Konga.com was her choice because when they started, delivery was free. “So even when I forgot an item while making an initial selection and paid for it, I could include whatever else I remembered and would still have them delivered for free to my doorstep. But now they charge a delivery fee, I’m a lot more cautious with my shopping list,” she said.
May Adibe said the variety of items and considerable low cost as against other online retailers is the reason she has stuck with Konga.com. But in recent times, she hasn’t been too impressed by their services. “I paid for two sets of dumbells which were sent to an address in Port Harcourt instead of Abuja. After booking, I called several times to ensure that they had the right address and they confirmed that they did. Over a month after I placed the order followed it with calls and still hadn’t received it I went to their office. That’s when I discovered what happened. I’ve had to resolve it on my own with the person whom it was sent to.”
A self-confessed ‘shopaholic’ called Samira Hassan Usman, disclosed that she used to indulge in excessive online shopping utilizing U.S giant Amazon.com. However, the 23-year-old also said both Jumia.com and Konga.com are doing a great job. “I sometimes buy scarce books from them and even unique items unavailable anywhere else,” she said.
Jumia Nigeria started operations in 2012, and some reports have it that it has dealings with over a million people. Afam Anyika, Jumia’s Head of Offline Marketing didn’t respond to phone calls or e-mails, but a staff source said the retailer is constantly focused on the customers and its operations and staying number one in this market. “Jumia is better equipped to fulfil the growing demand for online shopping in Nigeria as well have larger network leverage, which means better selection of brands and products for our customers and even better pricing,” he said.
On Konga’s part, a company which was rated the 2013 online Retailer of the Year and also 2013 ‘Best Emerging Brand Of The Year’ it took six phone calls over two weeks and two unanswered e-mails to get a vague response. It’s very clear that two of the biggest online retailers in Nigeria have a practically nonexistent PR unit.
With both online stores having a strong hold of their customer base and believe that they offer the best services, each hopes to become Africa’s number one online shop.
“For now, since this is the closest we have in Nigeria to an Amazon.com, we have to patronise them both,” Hakeem Shehu, a schoolteacher, said. “Maybe they’ll improve with time,” he concluded. With over a hundred potential customers, Jumia.com amd Konga.com had better do just that.