Nairobi’s Traffic Jam is a Blessing. See Why

With over 900,000 vehicles on Nairobi’s roads alone, tailbacks are a common phenomenon to city dwellers. But there is a positive side of those traffic jams.

True to the proverb; one man’s meat is another man’s poison, e-commerce companies have hurried to cash in from the agitated motorists in Nairobi. The perennial traffic jams have driven more Kenyans to on-line shopping.

The fear of getting stuck in traffic jams dotted with thousands of stationary vehicles in a bottleneck entry into the nation’s capital is what has led to the shift in consumer trends as residents move to online shopping.

JUMIA, an e-commerce company which offers an easy, safe and convenient shopping experience to customers with just a click of the mouse, has become the darling of many Nairobians. JUMIA delivers goods purchased by its clients to their door steps; this has attracted lots of people who would otherwise be stuck in traffic jams if they went shopping physically.

Backed by Millicom, MTN and Rocket Internet, JUMIA set base in Kenya eighteen months ago and has grown by double digits with new hubs in Nakuru and Mombasa and a similar move expected for other cities in Kenya. JUMIA, which is part of the Africa Internet Group, spearheads e-commerce in 9 countries across Africa: Kenya, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Parinaz Firozi, MD JUMIA Kenya, notes, “Our Nairobi hub is the biggest, the growth is fuelled by many factors but traffic is a major catalyst and the reason why most residents prefer to shop online.”

“Most people shop between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM on mobile phones and tablets, this time they are certainly stuck in traffic on their way to work. The numbers go down slightly and rise massively over lunch hour until 2:00 PM, most orders are placed via desktops and laptops at this time,” adds Firozi.

The rush hour between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM is what Firozi calls the ‘crazy hours’ when the orders and website traffic hits peak from mobile phones, tablets, desktops and laptops. However, neither is JUMIA immune to the traffic dilemma, delivery vans also get stuck in traffic, which can result in a delayed delivery, a challenge Firozi says the company solves with ‘’increased number of riders and offline pick-up points.”

The fear of buying counterfeit products online or products of varying quality than those on site, as well as sharing personal information and credit card safety issues remain the major challenges for online shopping in Kenya but as more e-commerce companies shift to offer cash on delivery and flexible returns and exchanges of products, the re-assurance is taking shape, upscale is inevitable.

The recent entry of KAYMU to rival OLX is a major indication that more online retailers are on their way to Kenya as the government continues to devise ways of tackling traffic jams, estimated to cost the second fastest growing commercial hub in Africa over KSh. 50 million per day.