Nigeria’s eCommerce space is dominated by two players-Jumia and Konga. Although they are competitors, Jumia apparently appears to have a slight edge over Konga when it comes to capital, ideas, and innovation.
This therefore forces Konga to play second place or catchup.
For example, Jumia recently announced that its anticipated brand festival has been scheduled to run from the 21st of September to the 27th of September. This virtual event according to the NYSE listed firm will hold on the Jumia App and website, and it promises to be an explosion of fun-shopping, filled with great offers.
The Partners include top brands like Unilever, Intel, HP, Nexus, Nokia Hisense, Sharp, Samsung, Binatone, XIAOMI, ABSOLUT, Dettol, and Logitech amongst others have been partnered with, to ensure that quality products are acquired at really low prices; Jumia is all about helping consumers to cut costs.
The aim of the brand festivals is to allow shoppers to spend less and buy more products directly from the manufacturers without the presence of a middleman, which on most occasions leads to higher charges.
About a week after the announcement of Jumia Brand Festival, Konga introduces Konga Bulk.
According to a press statement announcing Konga Bulk, the company said that it will represent the new normal for forward-thinking businesses and consumers in the Nigerian corporate space.
“Through this initiative, Konga is rolling out a mega platform which has been touted a potential game-changer, offering manufacturers, distributors, resellers as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) an opportunity to take advantage of Konga’s world-class assets including its secure regional warehouses, smart offices, cutting-edge technology, advanced logistics capabilities through an internally-owned subsidiary, Kxpress and its Central Bank of Nigeria-licensed payment platform known as KongaPay.
“This is in addition to leveraging Konga’s e-Commerce engine and extensive marketing expertise in bringing their products and services to the consciousness of millions of Nigerians nationwide.
“In other words, Konga is taking a huge burden off the shoulders of manufacturers and other business owners in Nigeria through this ambitious project.”
When is Konga Bulk going live? It is starting on Monday, September 21, 2020-the same day Jumia Brand Festival is kicking off. Can this be said to be a coincidence?
Interestingly, this is not the first time Konga is playing catchup. Whenever Jumia launches a campaign, Konga unveils its own campaign a week or a few days later.
What about Black Friday? Jumia reportedly made Black Friday what it is today in Nigeria. It started in 2013. In a bid to keep up with Jumia standards, Konga launched Yakata, its own version of Black Friday.
Jumia Black Friday Dates 2014-2019
| Year | Start | End |
| 2019 | 8th November | 29th November |
| 2018 | 2nd November | 30th November |
| 2017 | 13th November | 13th December |
| 2016 | 14th November | 25th November |
| 2015 | 27th November | – |
| 2014 | 28th November | – |
Konga Black Friday Dates 2014-2019
| Year | Start | End |
| 2019 | 11th November | 12th December |
| 2018 | 8th November | 28th November |
| 2017 | 13th November | 18th November |
| 2016 | 18th November | 21st November |
| 2015 | 26th November | 27th November |
| 2014 | 27th November | – |
From the above, Jumia always takes the lead and the initiative while Konga seems to ‘replicate’ what Jumia has done. Even with the sale of Konga and subsequent merger with Yudala, nothing has really changed.
The same applies to the 8th-anniversary celebrations of both companies. The Jumia 8th anniversary ran between 22nd June and 5th July. Konga started its 8th-anniversary campaign two days later on July 7th and ended July 22, 2020.
Is this a coincidence or Konga simply wait for Jumia to innovate while they immitate?
