E-commerce platform now available in 20 African countries
DHL has expanded its Africa eShop to nine more countries in Sub Saharan Africa, citing strong demand for the online retail platform in the initial 11 launch markets.
Hennie Heymans, CEO of DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa, said there had been impressive growth in usage of the app, available on mobile and desktop devices, since it was initially brought online in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, Ghana, Senegal, Rwanda, Malawi, Botswana, Sierra Leone and Uganda in April 2019.
“The uptake and usage of this platform over the past seven weeks has been incredible, with exponential growth in subscribers and physical orders. Based on this rapid growth and the positive feedback that we have received from the market, DHL Express has decided to proceed to the next phase of the rollout as quickly as possible,” Heymans said.
The platform is now live for consumers in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, The Gambia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, bringing the service to 20 of the continent’s 54 countries.
The eShop enables African customers to shop directly from over 200 US- and UK-based online retailers, with purchases delivered to their door, by DHL Express. This app was developed in partnership with Link Commerce, the white label fulfilment service of Mall for Africa.
“We are committed to driving e-commerce growth on the continent on all fronts. We work with thousands of e-commerce brands in Africa, and help them to reach global customers, and now with our DHL Africa eShop, we also connect African consumer to global brands,” Heymans said.
The global logistics heavyweight’s move to expand the Africa eShop follows the recent U.S. listing of Nigeria-headquartered Jumia, which operates in 14 African countries. The e-commerce platform raised more than $200 million (R3 billion) in an NYSE IPO. – GeekWire.co.za
