Online retailer Jumia sees plenty of green on Black Friday

E-commerce is alive and kicking in Nigeria, with online retail giant Jumia reporting record sales across a variety of brands and businesses throughout the nation during Black Friday 2015.

Black Friday marked a major milestone for Jumia, Fatoumata Ba, Jumia Nigeria’s managing director, said. Not only did a record-breaking number of vendors play a part, but their special incentives for Nigerian consumers resulted in revenues that were a staggering 25 times greater than average — and nine times greater than those netted on Black Friday 2014.

On Nov. 27, the number of Nigerians visiting Jumia’s website passed 2.3 million — equal to the entire population of Jamaica.

“Our amazing performance on Black Friday demonstrates the success of our strategy to continuously deliver the best retail value proposition through the widest assortment, at the best price and the best possible shopping experience,” Ba said. Ba's company fielded 130,000 calls and 78,000 emails within 24 hours, with staffers pulling an all-nighter to speed orders along.

One Jumia vendor witnessed the number of his orders spring from 200 to 8,000 in one day. “He had to hire 16 extra employees to help pack and deliver the items,” the company said.

Everything from electronics, groceries, sports, fitness and travel gear to car accessories, cameras and phones -- from books, home and office décor to infants’, children’s and adults’ fashion -- passes through the portals of Jumia’s wide-ranging virtual marketplace.