E-commerce giant Jumia is now offering its logistics network to third-party businesses, including traders who operate solely on social media platforms, a segment it previously considered competition. The strategic pivot, aimed at reducing fulfilment costs and diversifying revenue, comes as the company doubles down on achieving profitability by 2027.
The new service, Jumia Delivery, allows third-party sellers to ship packages nationwide through Jumia’s existing logistics infrastructure, including its 494 pickup stations in Nigeria. After a pilot in Ivory Coast, the service launched in Nigeria and will soon expand to Kenya, Senegal, and Ghana, pending regulatory approvals.
“Local social commerce merchants [one of our competitors] will always be around, and we are looking at this pool of merchants as an opportunity for Jumia,” CEO Francis Dufay shared on its Q1 earnings call on May 8. “We are working to onboard them to our marketplace and help them generate more sales. We are also looking to sell our Jumia delivery services and generate profits from them.”
The move puts Jumia in competition with established logistics providers like Uber, Bolt, Chowdeck, Sendbox, and GIG, which have already built significant distribution networks. Unlike its competitors, Jumia is betting that opening up its fulfillment engine will drive scale and improve cost efficiency across its operations, particularly in the last mile.
Until now, Jumia has implemented several strategies to reduce delivery expenses, which amounted to $9.4 million in the first quarter of 2025, and increase margins. So far, the benefits have come from staff reductions, including a 3% decrease in headcount in Q1 2025, renegotiated agreements for logistics and technology, and more efficient warehouse processes. Jumia Delivery will allow the company to move more goods in each trip, optimising fixed costs such as warehousing and last-mile operations.
Nonetheless, Jumia Delivery will have to contend against a few players that have gained ground in distributing their logistics services and earned brand equity, including established players like DHL, GIG Logistics, Kwik Delivery, and Sendbox. Jumia also faces competition from the delivery services of Glovo, Chowdeck, Uber, Indrive, and Bolt, which are leveraging network effects to distribute their delivery services. The company will also compete with a growing number of independent delivery riders, who leverage personal relationships and offer more competitive pricing to sellers.
Still, Jumia’s leadership is optimistic. “This is a scalable business that extends our value proposition across the digital economy,” the company stated. This development and other gains shared during the report have been well received by investors: Jumia’s share price climbed from $2.40 to $3.55 after its earnings call.
