During the second quarter (or Q2) of 2020, African e-commerce giant, Jumia reported a loss of $44.6 million (or N17.1 billion). This was at a time when e-commerce companies worldwide were seeing exceptional revenue boosts.
The COVID-19 pandemic had many shoppers turning to online stores for everything they needed. From groceries to toiletries to even the most mundane things; people no longer wanted to leave the safety of their homes and face the possibilities of an infection.
Thus, online shopping platforms began seeing more requests than they even anticipated. Amazon benefitted the most but even smaller companies like Instacart saw increasing revenues.
In fact, Jumia itself had not been left out. According to a Nairametrics report, Jumia had made a revenue of $41.35 million (or N15.9 billion) during Q2 2020. Which was more than it made during the same quarter in 2019.
Also read:
– Before You Start Shopping Online, Have These Ten Security Hacks In Mind
– Why Konga Rejected Over $300m From Global Investors – CEO Prince Ekeh
– Telegram Announces One-On-One Video Calls On Android And iOS
Yet, this revenue disappears with few billions left to catch up when we consider that Jumia had a loss of N17.1 billion. In Q2 2019, Jumia had reported a loss of $79 million (or N30.4 billion).
In a statement about its financial results, Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec, Co-CEOs of Jumia said; “We have made significant progress on our path to profitability in the second quarter of 2020, with Operating loss decreasing 44% year-over-year to [$44.5 million].
This was achieved thanks to an all-time high Gross Profit after Fulfillment expense of [$7.1 million] and record levels of marketing efficiency with Sales & Advertising expense decreasing by 51% year-over-year.”
Additionally, Jumia has seen an increased number of active users and orders. Even on Google Play Store, its mobile app has been on the top ten most downloaded list for many weeks.
The e-commerce company keeps doing all it can to get out of the losing abyss it has been in for years now. It is changing strategies and adopting new business models to further cut losses.
For your daily dose of tech, lifestyle, and trending content, make sure to follow Plat4om on Twitter @Plat4omLive, on Instagram @Plat4om, on LinkedIn at Plat4om, and on Facebook at Plat4om. You can also email us at info@techtalkwithtdafrica.com and join our channel on Telegram at Plat4om. Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel HERE.
