Payment on delivery is one of the most important challenges facing the e-commerce sector in Egypt. All companies are working to reduce the payment via cash purchases, by providing non-traditional payment solutions while at the same time giving the consumer confidence.
Hisham Safwat, CEO of Jumia Electronic Trading Company, said that the company is in the process of providing a service to pay the value of purchases through Fawry machines, expecting to launch the new service by the end of this year.
He noted that the company has agreed with a number of banks to provide new products specifically for e-commerce customers, allowing the customer to pay the value of purchases made through the site through ATM machines or by rechargeable cards designated to buying from Jumia that can be obtained from banks.
In recent years, e-commerce has seen significant growth both in terms of volume of sales and the number of dealers in this field. AT Kearney Global Consulting predicted the growth of e-commerce activity in the Middle East to more than $20bn by 2020, with the presence of 200 million youth using digital technologies.
Safwat revealed the company’s intention to launch a new service in cooperation with Aman Financial Services, a subsidiary of Raya Holding. According to Safwat, the site will provide instalment services in cooperation with Aman to facilitate the purchase of consumers and to allow a larger segment of customers to benefit from the products on Jumia. He noted that the service is likely to launch early next year.
After the liberalisation of the exchange rate in November 2016, Egypt witnessed the largest inflation in its modern era, which caused the decline in the purchasing power of a large segment of consumers, which caused the reduction of their expenses due to the devaluation of the pound against the dollar. This forced consumers to resort to instalment services, being the main way of purchasing goods at the lowest cost, due to dividing the price of products over several months.
Jumia Electronic Trading has raised the cost of shipping its products to its customers by 25% following the latest hike in fuel prices. The company also raised the payment online value from EGP 100 to EGP 150 to ensure clients are making real purchases.
Meanwhile, the company has agreed with Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency to enable handicrafts project owners and small and medium enterprises to market their products via Jumia.
According to an official at Jumia, the purpose of the cooperation protocol is to help small and medium enterprises grow by helping them sell their products online through the Jumia platform, in addition to encouraging craftsmen to operate and profit from it, and stressed the commitment of exhibitors to maintain all legal terms in the contract through establishing a legal entity for their business, obtaining a commercial record, and tax card prior to allowing them market their products on Jumia.
