2023-07-14 14:05:25
E-commerce has developed considerably in recent years in Senegal. Consumer behavior has been transformed in a country where the use of mobile payment and access to the internet has become more and more democratized.
However, more than half of the Senegalese population lives in rural areas, and access to modern commerce remains extremely difficult in these areas. E-commerce can provide a concrete solution to the growing consumer demand in these secondary or isolated regions such as Casamance.
In the past, e-commerce companies such as Jumia invested heavily in urban areas to develop e-commerce, but today e-commerce is most relevant in rural areas. . This new form of e-commerce provides a solution to consumers who do not have easy access to a wide variety of products due to limited local market options. By facilitating access to e-commerce for rural consumers, these companies offer a diversified catalog of products (often not available locally), affordable prices, and orders delivered close to home.
Through a commercial agent program called JForce, Jumia, for example, has succeeded in approaching a population that is poorly connected and has not yet adopted e-commerce. She succeeded in enabling a rural and often illiterate population to find solutions thanks to new technologies.
Today Casamance, this high-potential region located in the south of Senegal representing 1/7 of the country’s surface area and with nearly 3 million inhabitants (1) is increasingly using e-commerce. The absence of large supermarkets, of “modern retail” as can be found in Dakar, has created an opportunity for the development of e-commerce.
Today the towns of Ziguinchor and Cap Skirring are at the top of the most promising areas in Senegal for e-commerce, thanks in particular to an army of commercial agents who go out to meet the population.
“Customers buy via e-commerce because they find that there is good value for money. Often the products are more expensive in Casamance because of transport costs, low competition etc. Thanks to e-commerce, prices are more affordable and there is a wide choice of items, often not found locally. Also delivery in the region is very convenient and fast,” says Eugénie Tété Gomis sales agent at Jumia
“The most ordered products in Casamance are telephony, household appliances, household products and ready-to-wear items.” she adds.
To support this expansion in Casamance, e-tailers have developed a local logistics network aimed at covering more key towns in Casamance such as Ziguinchor, Bignona, Oussouye, Kolda, Cap Skirring and Sédhiou with fast and affordable delivery options in withdrawal points distributed throughout the region.
This new digital economy brings job opportunities to this region. A hundred young people from Jumia’s JForce program are employed to help people place orders. Agents earn a commission for every order placed online. They strongly contribute to the expansion and adoption of E-commerce in Casamance and in the rest of Senegal.
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