Auto news on Youtube Jan 2 2018

Jumia Group is a company that aims to meet all the commercial needs of African consumers online.

Into the group, there are several models: the Mall model,

which was the only one that was originally called Jumia. This model is a platform which was created

to allow supply and demand to meet, that is the meeting between stores and brands, distributors and customers.

The platform runs thank to the marketing, but also thank to the website itself, that is entirely thought to welcome customers in the best way possible,

but also to setup easily online shops that allow sellers to exhibit their products.

Then, there is the logistic part, which is essential to ensure the effective operation of the platform and the Jumia ecosystem.

Because we must be able to touch and deliver the final customer.

We have several models into the group: the Jumia Market model, which is a real open market place.

Any individual can sell one of his products, whether new or used.

It is a very accessible market place, comparable to Ebay.

Then, there is the Jumia Food model, which is a platform connecting restaurants

and those who will order food.

This model is present in Casablanca, Marrakech and is in development in several other cities.

This model is akin to Deliveroo or Foodora business model, in France and Europe.

There is also a real estate platform model called Jumia House, where you can list your apartment but also find one.

Finally, the latest model is called Jumia Deals,

so a platform where you can put any ad about any subject.

Initially, all the companies of the ecosystem had different names: Jumia but also Kaymu, Hellofood, Lamudi or Jovago.

But one year ago, we decided to rename the entire ecosystem "Jumia" to focus on the building of a group.

Why? Because we realized that implement a brand in several countries at the same time is very complicated.

So, creating seven brands is even more complex and risky.

But above all, we wanted to become a real group and to become the crossroads of all the commercial needs of Africans online.

Jumia was launched by the incubator and investment fund Rocket Internet,

which is an investor that work for the creation of digital companies around the world based on specific models:

the e-commerce model, the food delivery model and a selection of some other models that Rocket Internet launches in many countries.

In Southeast Asia, Africa, South America and Europe.

For example, Zalando is part of the Rocket Internet sphere; it is a company that was initiated by them.

Although Rocket Internet was our first investor, that is those who financed the project at the beginning,

we have since opened our capital to other investors, like MTN and Millicom which have invested from the outset in Jumia.

And at the second investing round, companies as JPMorgan, Orange, Goldman Sachs, Axa and CDC entered Jumia capital.

Initially, Jumia was a retailer, that is we bought and then resold products.

But three years ago, we decided to become a market place.

The difference is that instead of buying and reselling goods, that means going to suppliers, negotiating prices according to quantities, margins

and therefore set sales prices for our customers, we create a platform on which sellers can put their products on sale in direct competition.

This allows them to choose their selling price and generally sell more.

This positioning is better because our role is only to focus on the creation of a platform, that means

an intermediary between supply and demand and provide all the necessary conditions for its smooth functioning: logistics, delivery, website, marketing, etc.

But in this model, is not up to us to create the commercial offer.

We consider that the commercial offer must be generated and developed by the sellers themselves.

So, the seller with the best assortment, the best quality and the best price will be the most developed.

Our biggest challenge is about logistics. It is not our core business because our goal is not just creating a logistics platform,

but an effective platform. To resume, both the logistic part and the technical part are primordial.

Our aim is to create a website where people come and come back. But managing a market place is in fact managing different communities.

We must manage the logistics providers' community, but also several communities of customers

to be able to talk to them, activate them or reactivate them in the right way.

And finally, we also manage a community of sellers, to make sure to give them the right tools,

so that they can invest more and more to sell on our platform.