Jiji Kenya penetrated the market in 2020 when there were over ten online platforms in the market. It has since become the fastest growing e-commerce with over 6 million users and 2 million ads in Kenya. In March 2022, Alexa, a website traffic analytics platform, ranked it as the leading platform among all, having 2.5million unique visitors monthly, compared to 1.5 million in 2021.
When Jiji Kenya set up shop in 2020, there was an outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, hence it witnessed increased activities on the platform as many small and medium-sized enterprises turned online to reach more consumers due to movement restrictions imposed to contain COVID-19. As a result, they registered a sharp growth in the number of sellers to 100,000 while active monthly users surged to 800,000.
“Our rapid growth is the result of building a new trusted e-commerce environment for all buyers and sellers in the market and introducing features that would highly benefit them. Through our relentless efforts on customer success and new innovations, we have become the most downloaded platform,” said Maksym Golubev, Jiji Kenya’s Country Manager. “Over the past year, we have invested heavily in reducing scam levels by up to 10 times and educating our users on safety measures. As a result, we have been awarded twice as the best E-commerce site and twice as the best classifieds website in Kenya.”
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Online marketplaces have become the preferred shopping platforms in Africa. According to a Jiji Kenya survey of its customer base, more than 45% preferred the marketplace due to the variety of goods and services.
Survey results published in a UNCTAD report in March this year also found that more than 40% of customers in four large African countries were planning to reduce their supermarket shopping in the future by purchasing food, clothing, and electronics online. Supply chain constraints, delivery, and transport expenses plus difficulties in meeting customer shipping requirements are a challenge for many online platforms forcing customers to opt to shop on marketplaces, rather than e-commerce stores.
As part of this tremendous growth, Jiji Kenya has achieved a number of major milestones, including:
Exceptional Business Performance: Jiji Kenya reports a doubling of top-line growth year-over-year in 2022, accelerating its growth from 2020. Further, the company doubled its traffic and the number of ads in 2022.
Acquisitions and Developments: Jiji was able to acquire Cars45 and has also taken the initiative to inspect vehicles by more than 200 parameters. Unlike a classifieds marketplace where checks are inadequately carried out, they ensure quality checks and detailed reports on a car’s condition with various databases and determine the right prices before they are sold and/or auctioned.
Recognition: Jiji Kenya has continued to define the market with the most friendly and usable site and the most affordable prices of ads in the market. This has led to four major recognitions, two awards as the Best E-commerce Website and two others as the Best Classifieds Website.
Trust: Since acquiring OLX from the South African internet investment giant Naspers two years ago, Jiji Kenya has focused on eliminating fraud on the site through the deployment of Artificial Intelligence. They have decreased the number of scammers by up to 10 times. It is now much more difficult to scam people unlike before.
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“Jiji Kenya has quickly become the most trusted platform because of its dedication to customer success and breakneck developments,” said Anton Volianskyi, CEO and Founder of Jiji Africa. “Jiji Kenya’s aggressive growth strategy parallels what I envisioned when I started Jiji Africa. It is such a pivotal time for the company and we aim to reduce the churning rate to retain the coveted no. 1 position in Kenya.”
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