- General
- July 29, 2019
- 5 minutes read
Jumia To Set Up Pickup Points At Petrol Stations
A Jumia Food rider image: Jumia African e-commerce company Jumia has partnered with Vivo Energy, an operator of more than…
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| A Jumia Food rider
image: Jumia
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African e-commerce company Jumia has partnered with Vivo Energy, an operator of more than 2,100 Shell and Engen branded service [petrol] stations across the African continent, to use its stations as pick-up and drop off points that’ll allow customers collect or return online orders made on Jumia. Jumia’s customers will also be able to place and pay for orders at some service stations.
Jumia and Vivo say there are also other initiatives being explored that’ll combine Vivo’s physical service stations with Jumia’s e-commerce services. Vivo has service stations in 23 African countries, more than enough to cover the 14 countries Jumia operates in. In addition to selling vehicle fuels and other petrol-related products at its service stations, Vivo also has shops, restaurants, card services spots, and other non-fuel related businesses operating at its stations.
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| Jumia executives celebrate at the company’s recent IPO on the New York Stock Exchange
image: Jumia
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The lack of standard address systems is a significant problem that affects goods delivery in some areas across the African continent. Using service stations as pickup and drop off points is a very good way to solve the problem, as customers in areas without standard address systems can easily make use of such stations to get ordered items. Persons who also prefer not to or maybe don’t have the necessary requirements to order directly online [a significant number of people in the African region] can also easily place and pay for orders at Jumia’s pickup points [although Jumia has not confirmed, it’s plausible they’ll accept cash payments at such points].
Jumia went public in April and has fared quite well at the public markets, currently trading at more than 30% its debut price. Exploring more methods to boost business is key to Jumia’s performance, given its significant losses, and its partnership with Vivo marks for a good one.
