The e-commerce platform Jumia Kenya has opened up to brands and corporate organisations for advertising to boost dwindling earnings in its core activities.
Jumia’s loss before tax almost doubled in the third quarter of 2019 by 34 per cent to €54.6 million (Sh6 billion) compared to €35.8 million (Sh3.9 billion) in a similar period in 2018.
Jumia pegged a large part of the spike in losses to an increase in fulfillment expenses due to more cross-border goods transactions on its platform.
Its share on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has been on the downward trend since it dropped four per cent after the lockup period expired following the initial public offer in April last year.
Kenya CEO Sam Chappatte said Jumia Advertising Services is part of the company’s 2020 strategy to increase the monetisation of their platform.
The firm will also be opening up its extensive logistics network to third parties, he said at the launch in Nairobi
“We are launching advertising in response to significant demand from agencies and brands,” Chappatte said.
He explained that 20 per cent of active internet users in Kenya are on Jumia each month, presenting fertile data about their shopping, spending patterns and other analytics.
“This can enable our customers to discover relevant products and services, hence a powerful digital marketing channel for advertisers,” Chappatte added.
The firm which is currently operating in 11 countries across Africa now plans to target users geographically and segment them based on their shopping behaviour at the most granular level.
