Jumia Lost 1m Customers and Fulfilled 6m Fewer Orders in the First Six Months of this Year

The African e-commerce company  published its earnings report for this year’s second quarter with Francis Dufay, Jumia’s chief executive, blaming the company’s usage performance on “the complexity of a very challenging macro environment,” just as he did when explaining declining metrics in the first quarter. He cited average inflation of 14% across the company’s 11 markets in June 2023 as a major factor that depressed consumer spending and sellers’ ability to stock inventory. Facing the twin pressures of inflation and local currency depreciations against the dollar, Jumia is reverting to its earlier strategy of prioritizing high-value items, which yield an average of $42 each. By contrast, items in the so-called everyday category had an average value of $7. This adjustment to the company’s service portfolio will involve “moving away from unprofitable categories with limited consumer lifetime value,” Dufay explained.

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