Hisham Safwat:Jumia Egypt implements a plan to completely dispense with plastic in 2027
E-commerce represents one of the sustainability foundations due to its ability to save time, effort and meet the needs of the customer without having to move in more than one place.
E-commerce represents only 3 to 4% of the trade volume in Egypt so far
The electronic commerce in the world is achieving increasing spread and positive results, especially in recent years with the spread of the Corona pandemic.
“Osoul Misr Magazine” interviewed the Eng. Hisham Safwat, CEO of “ Jumia Egypt “, about the future of E-commerce in Egypt and how to achieve more principles of sustainability and positive results.
Online purchase is a key element to achieving sustainability by saving time and energy as well as reducing gasoline consumption
Hisham Safwat said that e-commerce is a key element to achieve sustainability through several axes, the first of which is to preserve the environment by rationalizing energy consumption, and to allow the consumer to purchase all his needs from his home without moving by car.
Thus, reducing emissions and saving gasoline consumption and electrical energy used in shops or malls, as well as saving time as the electronic platforms make all the required goods available for the customer.
He pointed out that the customer can get the required commodity at the best price and quality through the platforms that have various products.
Many employment opportunities by E-commerce
Providing many job opportunities for men and women and stimulating handicrafts through displaying them online
E-commerce provides employment opportunities, allowing through platforms for men and women to display goods to serve as online exhibitions without incurring the costs of setting up a store or show place, as “Jumia” offers advertisements for the showed products to reach target customers and consumers, Mr.Hisham Safwat added.
He noted that the company presented many handmade goods through its platform, a sector that has become active and distinguished and must be encouraged in the current time.
Preserving the environment
We introduced an initiative to package products without relying on plastic
He explained that the “ Jumia Egypt “ adopts mechanisms to preserve the environment through several systems, including packaging, as it presented an initiative to package products without relying on plastic, in order to achieve its plan, which is not to use plastic at all in 2027, and to preserve as much as possible the rationalization of energy consumption during delivery.
He indicated that “Jumia” has 3 types of exhibitors: merchants who own shops and chains, and therefore the platform is a new branch for them, and agents for brands and trade marks, or the brands themselves, and we have thousands of exhibitors.
We are keen to develop technologies and update the platform periodically
He continued with regard to the company’s information systems that they are developed periodically, according to the requirements of the consumer, and the development process takes place either through the company’s center in Egypt or in Europe.
Five-year plan
Our five-year plan relies on more than one axis, including the readiness of the Egyptian market for expansion
Regarding Jumia’s five-year plan, Mr.Hisham Safwat, the company’s CEO said that the plan relies on more than one axis, including the Egyptian market and the opportunities for e-commerce growth in it, and thus readiness for expansion.
Concerning our vision, the Egyptian market, despite having great opportunities in the growth of electronic commerce, is still in the early stages and does not represent but only 3 to 4% of the trade volume, and according to growth indicators compared to previous years, there are real opportunities, especially since there are many desires from international companies to enter Egypt, and the climate witnesses opportunities for the entry of Egyptian entrepreneurs and the establishment of new companies, he added.
The second axis is the priorities of the markets that are being expanded in terms of expansions and competitiveness, and expansion plans are being developed to suit each country and the desires of its customers, Mr.Hisham Safwat clarified.
“Jumia” uses shipping companies across Egypt
He ascertaied that “Jumia” uses shipping companies across Egypt to cover the its various governorates and regions, The company does not intend to establish its own shipping company, as it believes in specialization and assigning each task to the competent authority that has expertise in it, therefore, the company’s role is to provide services and technologies as well as to present its exhibiting partners in the best image to guarantee them a good promotion of their products.
Mr.Hisham Safwat pointed out that when Jumia launched its activities in Egypt 10 years ago, it was keen on adapting information technology in the field of trade and providing the best service to the customer.
He stressed the company’s keenness to conduct studies to identify and define the client’s needs in terms of targeted products, services and priorities that he wants, in a way that contributes to continuous development to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction.
Updating
The company has developed its platform within the framework of its objectives to support Egyptian companies and traders and provide the best service and image to display their products and determine the specifications of each commodity to inform the customer of various details, and has provided technical training to many exhibitors to improve the level of services, he said.
Activity of E-commerce during the Corona crisis
To stimulate electronic commerce by 3 main demands from the state
Concerning the activity of E-commerce during the Corona crisis, Hisham Safwat said that electronic commerce and online orders were indeed active during that period in the world and in Egypt, but they were in Egypt at a lower rate due to different conditions as the complete closure did not happen in Egypt, as it was in many countries of the world, and therefore there was a going to the stores and reliance on direct purchase.
He indicated that those who had a positive experience in e-purchasing in that period continued with that mechanism, and those who had a negative experience stayed away from it, but there are customers and companies who, after that period, have taken E-commerce as one of the basic mechanisms upon which they rely.
including logistical boost and legalization of informal trade conditions
He added that regarding subsidy and revitalization of E-commerce, there are 3 main demands from the state:
1- Logistical support through the provision of stores and the ease of obtaining their licenses.
2- E-commerce is based on logistics to reach all customers from all over Egypt.
3- It is the application of financial inclusion in a more general and comprehensive manner as E-commerce is one of the means of supporting financial inclusion to make electronic payment more available.
Legalizing the conditions of the informal sector
Mr.Hisham Safwat ends with the last requirement that is related to legalizing the conditions of the informal sector and giving it incentives to enter within the formal system, which preserves the right of the state, the companies and customers, and introduces major resources to the state budget and helps companies develop and provide the best service to the customer.
AS allowing the informal sector to display its products on platforms such as Jumia and others instead of displaying via Facebook and Instagram will achieve positive results.
Concerning the Black Friday offers, the CEO of Jumia said that our title this year was to contribute to eliminating inflation by granting strong offers that contribute to alleviating financial pressures and challenges on the consumer.
